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TWENTIETH CENTURY TEXT-BOOKS 



SHAKSPERE'S 

TRAGEDY OF 

JULIUS C^EoAR 



EDITED FOR SCHOOL USE 



BY 



WILLIAM HAMMOND McDOUGAL 

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, BELMONT SCHOOL 
BELMONT, CALIFORNIA 




NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1904 






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COPY B 






Copyright, 1904, by 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 



TWENTIETH CENTURY TEXT-BOOKS 

EDITED BY 

A. F. NIGHTINGALE, Ph.D., LL.D. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 



PKEFACE. 



The text of this edition of Julius Caesar varies from 
that of the First Folio only where the latter seems clearly 
to be corrupt. In the punctuation of the text some 
approach has been made toward modern usage. 

The notes and other helps have been prepared with 
special reference to the requirements for entrance to the 
larger colleges, but they are not limited by such require- 
ments. Effort has been made, in the Introduction, to 
give the student something of that sense of acquaintance 
with Shakspere, as a man, which gives the true lover of 
the poet a personal interest in the plays and therefore a 
readier appreciation of them. The student has been 
aided, also, to get the poet's points of view. For, as Mr. 
Dowden observes, " even Shakspere could not transcend 
himself"; he had his points of view, not all of which 
were on Parnassus. One of them was in the audience for 
which he wrote. Always mindful of the office receipts, 
the playwright habitually looked through the eyes of his 
Elizabethan playgoer, who, in turn, looked through the 
atmosphere of the times. It is desirable, therefore, to 
approach the reading of the play with a fresh sense of 
the conditions — within the playwright and without — that 
went to make it what it is. 

A word may be said regarding the arrangement of this 
edition. In the Introduction has been given only such 
matter as will prepare for an interested and broadly ap- 
preciative first reading of the play, as a play. For such 
reading, the advice of Dr. Johnson is to " read on through 

5 



6 JULIUS CAESAR. 

brightness and obscurity, through integrity and corrup- 
tion . . . with utter negligence of all commentators." 
This reading of the play may at once be followed by its 
careful study, using the notes; these include questions 
and comment on the development of the plot and char- 
acters. The student may then compare the results of his 
study with those of the editor, given under the heading : 
" Interpretation of the Play." 

The article " Shakspere and Plutarch " will, it is 
thought, give the average student a clearer understand- 
ing of the dramatist's method with his sources than he 
would gain by a detailed study of the text of Plutarch. 
There is, moreover, in such detailed study, danger of 
blurring the lines of the poet's pictures by overlaying 
them with those of the historian. For those who wish to 
make extended comparison of the two texts, full refer- 
ences have been made to Skeat's Shakespeare's Plutarch. 

The study of the play as poetry may well follow, rather 
than accompany, the study of it as a drama. The editor 
has followed Mr. Sidney Lanier in treating verse as a form 
of music. Whatever fault may be found with certain 
applications of this theory, it certainly aids to an appre- 
ciation of the esthetic values of rhythm and rhyme. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction to the play: 

shakspere's early life — influences of physical and 

historical surroundings 9 

shakspere and his time 14 

The Elizabethan drama 15 

Periods of Shakspere's career as a dramatist . . 17 

The historic setting of "Julius Caesar" ... 20 

Structure of the play 23 

Brief bibliography 27 

The text of the play 31 

Map of Philippi 120 

Interpretation of the play : 

Its characters 137 

Its significance 145 

The play as verse — verse as a form of music . . . 147 

Date of the play 152 

Shakspere and Plutarch 153 

7 



JULIUS CAESAE 



INTRODUCTION. 

Shakspere's Early Life : Influences of Natural and 
Historical Surroundings. 

In the place of his birth and early life, as truly as in 
the times in which his whole life was cast, the genius of 
Shakspere seems to have been singularly favored. He 
was born in the midland shire of Warrick, even then 
known as the Heart of England. The river Avon, thread- 
ing its leisurely way southwesterly through the county, di- 
vides it into nearly equal parts. Southeast of the river 
the country was then as now mainly open land ; northwest 
of it stretched the great Forest of Arden, in whose haunted 
depths every reader of As You Like It has wandered. Into 
this forest, nearly a thousand years before Shakspere's 
birth, the sturdiest of the early Britons were crowded by 
the sturdier Saxons. When the blood of the two races 
ceased to mingle in battle it began to blend in marriage. 
That in the veins of our greatest poet there was some Cel- 
tic blood mixed with the Saxon is not at all improbable. 
" It is not without significance," says the historian Green, 
" that the highest type of the race, the one who has com- 
bined in their largest measure the mobility and fancy of 
the Celt with the depth and energy of the Teutonic tem- 
per, was born on the old Welsh and English borderland, 
in the forest of Arden." 1 

1 See Ency. Brit., art. Shakespeare, p. 740. 



10 JULIUS CAESAR. 

Perhaps before the Saxon invasion a town sprang up 
in the southern edge of the forest at the point where a 
Roman road (strata) forded the Avon — hence the name, 
Stratford. At the time of Shakspere' s birth Stratford had 
perhaps two or three hundred houses, some of which are 
still standing. One of these, a two-storied, dormer-win- 
dowed cottage, whose heavy beams project through the 
facing of plaster, is known to have belonged to John 
Shakspere. He conducted his business, that of a glover 
and a dealer in hides and wool, on the ground floor. Above 
this is a low room in which, it is believed, his son William 
was born, presumably three days before his baptism, which 
was on April 26, 1654. John Shakspere was a man of lim- 
ited or no education but of sufficient standing in the town 
to be elected to several public offices, including that of high 
bailiff, or mayor. In 1557 he had married Mary Arden, 
a country girl of somewhat aristocratic ancestry, but of 
whom we know almost nothing else. 

Nor do we know with certainty anything of her son's 
boyhood. That he was a friendly, free-hearted, and sound- 
hearted boy is quite certain. His great rival, Ben Jonson, 
a man not given to soft speech, said of him after his death : 
" I loved the man and do honor his memory, on this side 
of idolatry, as much as any. He was indeed honest, and 
of an open and free nature; had an excellent fancy; brave 
and gentle impressions/' The boy must therefore have 
been thoroughly likable, a good comrade, perhaps a little 
dreamy at times but never " queer." He certainly had a 
hand in all the right sort of fun, and, according to uniform 
tradition, in some that was not right. His wholesome love 
of Nature, his true alma mater, would lead him often into 
field or forest, where the people of his " excellent fancy " 
would make the solitudes places of high revelry or stately 
tragedy. It is thought that no scenery could have excelled 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

that of Warwickshire as a school for his dramatic genius. 
Its quiet, companionable beauty was better than would 
have been the " grandeur and immobility " of the moun- 
tains, whose " measureless strength and imperial repose 
dwarf by comparison all merely human interests." It is 
with human interests that the dramatic poet has inti- 
mately and almost exclusively to do. 

Such interests of very impressive kind were brought 
home to the young poet by the history and legendry with 
which Warwickshire is crowded. Eight miles up the Avon 
valley is the town of Warwick; here Shakspere could 
stand on the mound where William the Conqueror had built 
a fortress, or wander about and perhaps within the castle 
of the great Kingmaker. Five miles further up the valley 
is Kenilworth; here, as Scott imagines, the boy of twelve 
may have witnessed the magnificent pageants with which 
Earl Leicester entertained the great Queen. Five miles 
still further up the Avon is Coventry, where, in Shak- 
spere' s early boyhood, the ill-fated Mary Stuart was im- 
prisoned; here also were held the most famous of the 
Miracle Plays, out of which had grown the Elizabethan 
drama. Thus within a day's tramp lay scenes whose in- 
fluence on the impressionable boy must have been educa- 
tive in a high degree. More so, probably, than the tedious 
work of the Free Grammar School, into which he doubt- 
less entered when about seven years old. The school-day 
began at six in the morning and continued, with intermis- 
sions, until six in the evening. The long hours were given 
almost wholly to Latin and arithmetic ; apparently no his- 
tory, in which he would have delighted, and but little Eng- 
lish were taught. 

When about fourteen Shakspere seems to have been 
withdrawn from school, probably to assist in the business 
of his father, who had suffered serious losses in both for- 



12 JULIUS CAESAR. 

tune and reputation. According to another tradition the 
poet became a country school-teacher; possibly he was em- 
ployed in a lawyer's office, which may account for the fa- 
miliarity with legal terms and procedure of which his 
plays give evidence. It is not strange, as Mr. Mabie re- 
marks, that we know as little of Shakspere's early life as 
of Cromwell's. There was then little of our present-day 
interest in the personal history of great men. Nor was 
there in the provincial town of Stratford any real appre- 
ciation of Shakspere's greatness. The villagers knew him 
in later life as a prosperous country gentleman, with some 
reputation as a poet, but whose plays neither they nor he 
considered as literature. No effort therefore was made to 
gather and record incidents of his early life. 

The only contemporary record preserved to us, besides 
the entry of his baptism, is his marriage bond. As in the 
old church in Stratford we may stand beside the broken 
stone font where the poet received his name, so in a 
thatched farm cottage a mile east of Stratford we may sit 
where the young man made love to Mistress Anne Hatha- 
way, a young woman seven years his senior. It may have 
been from amused memory that he drew his picture of 

" the lover, 

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad 
Made to his mistress' eyebrow." 

His marriage took place when he was eighteen. If it was 
not a happy one — of which there is some, though quite in- 
conclusive, evidence — the fault could hardly have been his, 
at least mainly his. That he was fond of his children, two 
daughters and a son, all born within three years after his 
marriage, we can not doubt. 

It may have been a desire to provide better for his 
family that led the young father, in or about 1586, to 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

leave Stratford for London. His leaving may however 
have been, as credible tradition asserts, to escape the mag- 
isterial wrath of Sir Thomas Lucy, upon whose preserves 
he is said to have been poaching; or it may have been to 
give his conscious genius its opportunity. Possibly it was 
due to all these. 

We may venture to picture to ourselves the young poet 
as, some early morning, he sets out across the old bridge 
to foot it to London. The several portraits and descrip- 
tions of him so far agree that we may do this with some 
confidence. His compact frame is clad in doublet and 
hose, doubtless of modest stuff. Set solidly on his ample 
shoulders is a head as admirably proportioned as is the 
character it indicates. Auburn hair, somewhat thin, falls 
loosely about a dome-like forehead. The brows are high 
and arched. The kindly eyes, hazel in color and some- 
what prominent, are almost dreamily thoughtful, with a 
shade of temperamental melancholy. The nose is finely 
modeled, rather thin and slightly arched. The full lips 
are, like the eyes, expressive of warmth and delicacy of 
feeling; they do not indicate the degree of decision and 
energy we otherwise know he possessed. On this day all 
the finer lines and lights of his face are doubtless ac- 
centuated, for he can not but be sensitively conscious of 
the intimate and sacred interests staked on his venture 
into the world. 

In a few days he was in London, facing the problem 
of bread-and-butter. This he seems soon to have solved 
by attaching himself to one of the theaters. Tradition 
says he began by holding the horses of attendants at 
the play, soon showing his business capacity by hiring a 
number of boys to assist him. He early became an actor, 
attaining fair success, though no distinction. His literary 
craftsmanship began with retouching old plays and with 



14 JULIUS CAESAR. 

assisting in writing new ones. The atmosphere of his 
time was charged with electric excitants to his peculiar 
genius; it is worth while to note some of the things that 
conspired to make this so. 

Shakspere and His Times. 

In Shakspere's childhood he may have known more 
than one " lean and slippered pantaloon " old enough to 
remember the coming of word of the death of Caxton, 
who had brought to England the new art of printing; also 
the amazing news that Columbus and Cabot had found a 
new world. The old men may have heard also, in their 
youth, of the return from Italy of Colet and his associates, 
who brought to England its first clear intelligence of the 
new world of thought, the old world of Homer and Plato, 
of Virgil and Seneca. The Eevival of Learning had be- 
gun in Italy two centuries before; in the century after 
that it had moved over the Alps into France, but there it 
had been delayed. The delay was England's good fortune, 
for it permitted the current of the German Reformation 
to flow into that of the Italian Renaissance and to precipi- 
tate much of the pagan immorality which made the study 
of pagan art and letters so mixed a blessing to the Latin 
countries. So mingled, the two streams — one flowing from 
the Greek and Latin literatures, the other from that of 
the Hebrews — entered England together. The effects of 
the mingled currents were felt by Shakspere even in his 
youth; for at school he was drilled in several Latin and 
perhaps some Greek classics, and there or at home was 
evidently familiarized with the Bible. That in London he 
felt the lift and sweep of the Renaissance as few others 
did is apparent, though he soon rode the tide as a strong 
swimmer and was not borne helplessly with it. Of the 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

effects of the religious movement there is much less evi- 
dence, though there is something even of Puritanism in 
the reverence for conscience and the almost stern sense 
of moral order shown in his tragedies. And, judged by 
the standards of his time, even his comedies have singu- 
larly little of moral taint. But if he had much of the 
moral depth of the Puritans he had nothing of their nar- 
rowness. It was a large, free, winsome world in which 
his mind and spirit moved, and nothing human in it was 
alien to him. It was a world crowded with heroic action 
as well as with venturing thought; it was the time of the 
Armada, of daring exploration and exploitation beyond 
the seas. The natural literary expression of the age was 
therefore the drama, the literature of action. 

Shakspere and the Elizabethan Drama. 

Shakspere found the dramatists of his day roughly 
grouped in two schools, according as they were governed 
by native or foreign dramatic ideals. To understand the 
differences between these a glance at the development of 
the English drama is necessary. It had its rise, about 
the year 1100, with the Miracle Plays. These were given 
at first by the priests, in the churches; later they were 
acted by laymen, often by the trade-guilds, on movable 
platforms in the streets and other public places. The 
scenes were taken from the lives of the saints and, later, 
from the Bible. On the Continent the biblical plays were 
usually called Mysteries, of which the Passion Play of 
Oberammergau is a survival. Still later rose the Moral- 
ities, in which personified abstractions — such as Riches, 
Death, Abominable Living, and Good Deeds — were sub- 
stituted for biblical characters. One of these, Everyman, 
has been recently revived, with notable success, in Eng- 



16 JULIUS CAESAR. 

land and in this country. In course of time the plays 
were enlivened by the introduction of a comic character, 
called Vice. Then came the Interlude, a brief farce, and 
from this came the Comedy. In the interludes and com- 
edies characters drawn from real life took the place of the 
bloodless abstractions of the Moralities. Soon came the 
Tragedy. The first English comedy, Ralph Roister Dois- 
ter, and the first tragedy, Gorboduc, were written but a 
few years before the birth of Shakspere. 

Now the writers of the early Miracles and Moralities 
had presented life as they found it. They knew nothing 
of the artificial arrangement of events which character- 
ized the classical drama. In the latter all that occurred 
before the audience was presented as happening at one 
time — not to exceed a day — and at one place ; the plot was 
obvious and uncomplicated, no underplot being allowed. 
The end sought was unity, and therefore distinctness and 
intensity, of impression. These Dramatic Unities — of 
Time, Place, and Plot — had come into England with the 
Renaissance. Those writers who followed the classical 
models, as modified by Italian writers, we may call the 
Classical school; those who clung to the more natural 
scheme of the native drama formed what we may call 
the Romantic school. Ben Jonson was to become the 
great representative of the former school, Shakspere of 
the latter. In his earliest plays, however, our poet con- 
formed somewhat closely to the prevailing taste for the 
classical canons. The degree of his subsequent variation 
from these canons and his final disregard for them are 
commonly accepted as one main basis for the arrangement 
of his plays into several periods. It should be said, how- 
ever, that some of the best critics — including the greatest 
of those now living, Furness — agree with Saintsbury that 
"the attempts which have been made to arrange it [the 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

order of the composition of the plays] into periods . . . 
are obvious failures." Exact arrangement is certainly im- 
possible, but an approximate grouping is based on good 
evidence. 



Periods of Shakspere's Career as a Dramatist. 

The first period is, approximately, from 1586 to 1595. 
We may call this the Apprentice Period. 1 In it Shak- 
spere was learning his trade. In retouching old plays and 
in collaborating with experienced dramatists in writing 
new ones Shakspere acquired facile mastery of technic. He 
attended somewhat to the unities, was liberal in classical 
allusions, and sought to fit his lines into classical mold 
— to cut down or piece out each line to the normal num- 
ber of syllables and to end it with a pause. He used 
much rhyme. His Comedy of Errors is an imitation of 
Plautus. Besides this farcial comedy we may assign to 
this period the wildly but deliciously fanciful Midsummer 
Night's Dream and the thoroughly Italian love-tragedy of 
Romeo and Juliet. As the destruction of the Armada, in 
1588, and the vast colonial schemes of Raleigh and others 
had greatly intensified the national consciousness, he be- 
gan in this period his series of English " histories," or 
chronicle-plays, with the three parts of Henry VI., of 
which the first part was probably an old play retouched. 

The second period, about 1596-1600, we may call the 
Period of Great Comedies. In this half-decade he wrote 
no tragedies; and though he continued his historical plays 
with King John, the two parts of Henry IV., and Henry 

1 Dowden gives to the four periods the names : In the Workshop ; 
In the World ; Out of the Depths ; On the Heights. Darmesteter 
uses the terms : Apprentice Years; Period of Expansion; Pessimistic 
Period ; Optimistic Period. 

2 



18 JULIUS CAESAR. 

V. — the last-named being "a splendid dramatic song to 
the glory of England" — he put less of himself into them 
than he put into his comedies. For his life was now in 
its heyday. He was in high favor with the theater-going 
public; he was loved by his fellow wits and courted by 
men of high rank. He was in the mood for merry and 
genial comedy. To this period we may assign the Mer- 
chant of Venice, in which he exhibits " entire mastery 
over his art"; the rollicking Merry Wives of Windsor, 
and the delicious As You Like It. Christopher Marlowe 
had now made the romantic drama triumphant over the 
classical, and Shakspere fell in heartily with him. He 
adopted Marlowe's "mighty line" — the variable blank 
verse — and rejected the classical unities. His powers now 
had free play. But sweet and wholesome as his comedies 
of this period are, we may see creeping into them 
shadows of an approaching gloom. For this we may con- 
jecture such personal reasons as the death of his only son, 
Hamnet. But there were reasons quite impersonal. Eng- 
land, always a serious nation, was losing the early ex- 
hilaration of the Renaissance. The iridescent dreams of 
things as they might be were fading in the cold gray light 
of things as they were — and are. We may detect in the 
closing comedies of this period something of the bitterness 
of national as well as personal disillusion which we taste 
so fully in the following. The melancholy Jacques of As 
You Like It is, says Taine, " a transparent mask behind 
which we see the face of the poet," and in the poet's face 
we may see reflected the mood of the closing years of 
Elizabeth's reign. 

The Period of Great Tragedies extended from about 
1601 to 1608. The poet's son had died in 1596 ; his father 
died in 1601. In this year also his friend the Earl of Es- 
sex led the conspiracy against the Queen, which was as 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

pitifully ill-conceived and futile as that of Brutus agaiust 
Caesar; it brought Essex to the headman's block, and 
Shakspere's intimate friend, the Earl of Southampton, to 
the Tower. In this year, it is probable, Julius Caesar was 
written, and the conspiracy of Essex may have occasioned 
its writing. At any rate, taking the period as a whole, 
we may venture to say of the tragedies, as Hueffer said of 
blind Beethoven : " The grand note of sadness resounding 
in his compositions is the reverberation of personal suffer- 
ing." To this period belong the five great tragedies: 
Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. 
All are tragedies of betrayal and failure : of noble natures 
misled by unreason; of ignoble natures equally misled by 
passion; all thwarted and avenged by relentless Destiny 
— or resistless Providence. The atmosphere of each is dark 
and close, sometimes stifling. Into the darkness come oc- 
casional notes of laughter and some of purest and tenderest 
feeling; but these rather heighten the tragic gloom than 
relieve it. 

Greatly different is the Period of the Eomances, 
about 1608 to 1613. In the former year Shakspere's 
mother died; possibly this intimate sorrow chastened his 
spirit and led it to the heights of serene, if saddened, 
faith, whence he looked out upon life with clearer vision. 
However this may be, the gloom of the tragedies is past; 
treachery gives place to tested fidelity; estrangement to 
reconciliation. The plays, of which A Winter's Tale and 
The Tempest are the best, are comedies, graver than the 
earlier ones but highly romantic in motive and incident. 

The foregoing effort to arrange the leading plays in 
order of time and to relate them to changes in the poet's 
outer and inner life is, of course, almost wholly con- 
jectural. But it accounts for things not otherwise ac- 
counted for. 



20 JULIUS CAESAR. 

About 1611 Shakspere retired from active connection 
with the stage and returned to Stratford to his wife and 
daughters. He was entitled to bear a coat-of-arms, and 
had the wealth duly to support the dignity. After a few 
quiet years he died, in 1616, and was laid to rest in the 
old church in which he was baptized. 

The Historic Setting of the Play. 

Julius Caesar is a " play of government," its central 
action has to do not with personal motives, though these 
underlie the avowed purpose of all save Brutus, but with 
political motives. To appreciate these and at the same 
time to follow the thread of the story more readily it is 
well to recall the historic setting of the action. 

We are led back to the tradition of the Elder Brutus, 

who 

" did from the streets of Rome 

The Tarquin drive, when he was called a king," 

and upon the ruins of the kingdom founded, in 509 b. a, 
the Roman Republic. Rome was then a small city-state, 
in the center of Italy. It gradually extended its power 
over all of the peninsula proper, beyond which it had no 
thought of expanding. But in 264 b. c. its interposition 
in the affairs of the neighboring island of Sicily led it, 
much as the interposition of the United States in the af- 
fairs of Cuba led our country, to become a " world 
power." The stride of its conquests was swift and resist- 
less; in the century before the time of the play Rome had 
become ruler of the Mediterranean world. From the con- 
quered nations came enormous wealth and unnumbered 
slaves. The riches begat the " avarice and luxury " which 
Rome's greatest historian, Livy, declared to have been " the 
ruin of every great State." Undermined by these vices 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

and by the multiform economic and moral evils of its 
huge, brutal slave system, Eome was tottering to its fall 
when there was born the man who was to save it, in spite 
of itself, — Caius Julius Caesar. 

There were at the time of Caesar's birth two forces 
to be dealt with. On the one side were the wealthy slave- 
holding aristocrats, represented by the Senate ; these were, 
as a class, both conscienceless and heartless. On the other 
side were the common citizens. The commoners had two 
effective sources of power: their legal right to elect the 
officers, and their numerical strength as a mob which could 
work a revolution. But they were, as a whole, so ignorant 
and vicious that the aristocrats commonly controlled them 
by direct or indirect bribery. 

By birth Caesar was an aristocrat, but his lot early 
fell in with that of the commoners. His aunt married 
their great leader, Marius; and he himself, a boy of sev- 
enteen, married a daughter of Cinna, Marius's lieuten- 
ant. Soon after Caesar's marriage Marius was defeated 
by Sulla, leader of the senatorial party, who commanded 
Caesar to divorce his wife. But "the boy," in whom 
Sulla declared there was " many a Marius," nobly refused 
to do so, though his refusal cost him his office, his wealth, 
and almost his life. He had committed himself irrev- 
ocably to the popular side in the struggle which he fore- 
saw could have but one issue — the downfall of the Ee- 
public. He saw also that if the State was to survive its 
form of government some man must be at hand able to 
reconstruct the falling framework into a despotism. This 
man must, like the better Greek tyrants, rest his power on 
the will of the people, but that will must be absolutely 
swayed by his own. 

With the passing of Marius and Sulla, the arena was 
left clear for their successors- — Caesar, for the people, and 



22 JULIUS CAESAR. 

Pompey, for the Senate. Their struggle had ended at 
Pharsalus, three years before the play opens. Out of the 
wreck of the Eepublic Caesar raised an empire, using, 
however, the forms of the old government. To the title 
imperator he added those of consul, censor, tribune, and 
others; but in all but name he was a king. Had he not 
dallied with that hated title he might have completed the 
work he had begun. As it was, he made possible the work 
of his successors, and preserved Rome for five centuries to 
complete its unique and inestimable contribution to civ- 
ilization. Our play begins with the forming of con- 
spiracy which ended in Caesar's death. 

" In person," says Mr. Froude, " Caesar was tall and 
slight. His features were more refined than was usual in 
Roman faces; the forehead was wide and high, the nose 
large and thin, the lips full, the eyes dark gray like an 
eagle's, the neck extremely thick and sinewy. ... He 
was an athlete in early life, admirable in all manly exer- 
cises, and especially in riding. From his boyhood it was 
observed that he was the truest of friends, that he avoided 
quarrels, and was most easily appeased when offended. In 
manner he was quiet and gentlemanlike, with the natural 
courtesy of high breeding." 1 In genius Caesar was many- 
sided, and great on every side: a soldier, an orator, an 
author, and above all a constructive statesman; in each 
respect he ranks among the greatest in history. 

Caesar seems to have desired to make his power heredi- 
tary, and therefore, having no son, he adopted his grand- 
nephew, Octavius. When his great kinsman fell, Octavius, 
a youth of nineteen, dropped his studies and plunged into 
the turmoil of factions at Rome. At first he sided with 
the Senate against Antony. But he soon saw it was wise 
to unite with him and Lepidus in a second triumvirate, 
1 Caesar : a Sketch, ch. xxviii. 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

whose history is much like that of the first. How Octavius 
and Antony triumphed over the conspirators against Cae- 
sar our play tells. How Octavius then triumphed over 
Antony and became the sole master of the Roman world 
is told by Shakspere in the sequel to our play, Antony and 
Cleopatra. 

Of the two other leading characters of Julius Caesar, 
the conspirators Brutus and Cassius, it is sufficient here 
to say but a few words. Both men, who were brothers-in- 
law, had fought with Pompey against Caesar, yet had 
been most generously treated by him, and by his favor 
held high public office at the time they killed him. Bru- 
tus' s antagonism was nearly or wholly impersonal; he 
fought Caesarism, not Caesar. He " loved Caesar much, 
but Eome more " ; he vainly hoped by sacrificing the one 
to serve the other. He was a " bookish idealist," who be- 
longed to a past age and could not understand his own. 
He fought for a losing cause, honorably but blindly. Cas- 
sius's quarrel was chiefly a personal one. Plutarch rep- 
resents him as " hating Caesar privately more than he did 
tyranny." He so appears in the play. 



Structure of the Play. 

The play of Julius Caesar falls into two parts, distinct 
in action, in scene, and in all but the leading characters. 
The first part, which ends with the killing of Caesar, 
Fleay calls " Caesar's Tragedy " ; the remaining scenes he 
calls " Caesar's Kevenge." We may use the terms, but 
should not let them mislead us. They might seem to jus- 
tify Fleay's statement that " there are in fact two plays 
in one." This is untrue. The two parts are inseparable; 
they are one thing, as the rise and fall of an arrow or of 
a tide are one thing. When the arrow is shot, two forces 



24 JULIUS CAESAR. 

are put instantly into conflict: that which lifts the arrow 
and that which drags it down. At no time is either in- 
operative; but in the rise one force is dominant, in the 
fall this violent but impermanent force gradually gives 
way to the greater and enduring one. So with the rise 
and fall of the tide. Our play gives the rise and fall of 
a conspiracy. At the outset two forces are in conflict. One 
of these is predestined to win ; this is the spirit of the age, 
of which " the spirit of Caesar " is the exponent. Against 
this force, resistless as gravitation, the violent force of con- 
spiracy spends itself impotently. In the first part the tide 
rises, swells full, and breaks in red fury on Caesar's throne. 
Then instantly it begins to ebb. Caesar's spirit — the age- 
spirit — becomes the controlling power. Under its force of 
moral gravitation the tide recedes; it ebbs swiftly out into 
the sea of confused passions from which it came, carrying 
the conspirators helplessly to their ruin. The throne re- 
mains, ready for a new Caesar. 

The divisions of the play may best be shown by a dia- 
gram: 

Part I : " Caesar's Tragedy." Part II : " Caesar's Revenge." 

Act I. -III. i. Act III. ii.-V. 

Principal Characters : Principal Characters : 

Julius Caesar. ) { Brutus. Octavius Caesar. ) ( Brutus. 



f i 



Antony. ) l Cassius. Antony. ) ( Cassius. 

Minor Characters : Minor Characters: 

Conspirators, Senators, Tribunes, Officers, Soldiers, Servants, a 

Citizens, a Rhetorician, a Sooth- Poet, Lucius. 1 
sayer, a Poet, Portia, Calpurnia, 
Lucius. 1 

Scene : Rome. Scene : Chiefly the East. 

The indebtedness of Shakspere to Plutarch for almost 
all the incidents wrought into the plot of Julius Caesar is 

1 Lucius is the only minor character appearing in both parts. 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

noted elsewhere. Yet the plot as a whole is Shakspere's. 
Dramatic genius, like architectural genius, may be emi- 
nently shown in the selection of details used once or many 
times by others and the coordination of these details 
into a new and stately whole. Such use has the poet made 
of Plutarch's details. 



BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



Dr. Furness and his son have not yet included "Julius 
Caesar " in their Variorum edition of the plays. The edition by 
Dr. Homer B. Sprague contains, in very condensed form, notes by 
many commentators. Other editions of special value are : the 
Clarendon, edited by William Aldis Wright; the Pitt, edited by 
A. W. Verity ; and the edition of William J. Rolfe. 

If one can have but one general work on Shakspere it should 
be either Edward Dowden's Shakspere: His Mind and Art or 
Barrett Wendell's William Shakspere. Both Dowden and Wendell 
discuss at some length the structure, motives, and characters of 
" Julius Caesar"; these are also very suggestively treated in a 
chapter in Ulrici's Shakspeare's Dramatic Art, vol. ii. Professor 
Dowden's Shakspere Primer is an admirable little work. Schmidt's 
Shakespeare- Lexicon and E. A. Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar are 
standard authorities ; the latter includes a full discussion of Shak- 
spere's prosody. Craig's English of Shakespeare is a verbal study 
of "Julius Caesar." William Shakespeare: Poet, Dramatist and 
Man, by Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie, is a delightful and helpful 
study of the poet's life and times, and of his art as related to 
these. 



JULIUS C^ESAE 



DRAMATIS PERSONS 



'• 1 

us, > 

PIDUS, J 



triumvirs after the death of Julius Csesar, 



- conspirators against Julius Csesar. 



Julius Caesar 

Octavius Cjesar 

Marcus Antonius 

M. ^Emilius Lepidus 

Cicero, ] 

Publius, > senators 

Popilius Lena, J 

Marcus Brutus, 

Cassius, 

Casca, 

Trebonius, 

LlGARIUS, 

Decius Brutus, 
Metellus Cimber, 

ClNNA, 

Flavius and Marullus, tribunes. 

Artemidorus, of Cnidos, a teacher of rhetoric 

A Soothsayer. 

Cinna, a poet. Another Poet. 

Lucilius, 

Titinius, 

Messala, 

Young Cato 

volumnius, 

Varro, 

Clitus, 

Claudius, 

Strato, 

Lucius, 

Dardanius, 

Pindarus, servant to Cassius 



friends to Brutus and Cassius. 



servants to Brutus. 



Calpurnia, wife to Caesar. 
Portia, wife to Brutus. 



Senators, Citizens, Guards, Attendants, etc. 
Scene : Rome ; the neighborhood of Sardis ; the neighborhood of Philippi. 



JULIUS CAESAR, 



ACT FIRST. 

Scene I. Rome. A street. 
Enter Flavius, Marullus, and certain Commoners. 

Flav. Hence ! home, you idle creatures, get you home : 

Is this a holiday ? What ! know you not, 

Being mechanical, you ought not walk 

Upon a labouring day without the sign 

Of your profession? Speak, what trade art thou? 5 
First Com. Why, sir, a carpenter. 
Mar. Where is thy leather apron and thy rule? 

What dost thou with thy best apparel on? 

You, sir, what trade are you? 
Sec. Com. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am 10 

but, as you would say, a cobbler. 
Mar. But what trade art thou? answer me directly. 
Sec. Com. A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a 

Scene i. — This is simply a prologue. It presents the two factions who 
are to control the action of the play : Flavius and Marullus represent 
those of the aristocratic, official class who are hostile to Caesar ; the Com- 
moners represent the people, who generally support him. 

3. mechanical, t. e., mechanics, workmen of all sorts. 

4. sign, either such as is indicated in line 7, or a badge. The allusion 
is probably to a custom or law of London, not of Rome. 

10. in respect of, in comparison with. The word cobbler might mean 
either a mender of shoes or any bungling workman, hence the point of 
the pun. 

31 



32 JULIUS CAESAR. [Actl.Sc.i. 

safe conscience; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of 
bad soles. 1B 

Mar. What trade, thou knave ? thou naughty knave, what 
trade ? 

Sec. Com. Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me: 
yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you. 

Mar. What mean'st thou by that? mend me, thou saucy 20 
fellow ! 

Sec. Com. Why, sir, cobble you. 

Flav. Thou art a cobbler, art thou? 

Sec. Com. Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl : I 
meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's 25 
matters, but with awl. I am, indeed, sir, a surgeon 
to old shoes; when they are in great danger, I re- 
cover them. As proper men as ever trod upon neat's 
leather have gone upon my handiwork. 

Flav. But wherefore art not in thy shop to-day? 30 

Why dost thou lead these men about the streets? 

Sec. Com. Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get my- 
self into more work. But, indeed, sir, we make holi- 
day, to see Caesar and to rejoice in his triumph. 

Mar. Wherefore rejoice ? What conquest brings he home ? 35 
What tributaries follow him to Rome, 
To grace in captive bonds his chariot- wheels ? 
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless 
things ! 

15. soles. Compare the play on this word in The Merchant of Venice 
(IV. i.) : " Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, Thou makest thy 
knife keen." 

19. out, i. e., " out at the heels." Note other puns in lines 24-28. 

28. neat's leather. Neat = cattle. Cf. "neat's-foot oil." 

34. his triumph, Caesar's fifth "triumph," celebrating his victory over 
the sons of Pompey, in Munda, Spain. This triumph, being over Roman 
citizens, gave great offense to many at Rome. It would especially offend 
the tribunes, whose powers Pompey had greatly increased. 

36. tributaries, captives who would pay tribute. 



Actl.Sc.i.] JULIUS CAESAR. 33 

you hard hearts, you cruel men of Home, 40 

Knew you not Pompey ? Many a time and oft 

Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements, 

To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops, 

Your infants in your arms, and there have sat 

The live-long day, with patient expectation, 45 

To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome; 

And when you saw his chariot but appear, 

Have you not made an universal shout, 

That Tiber trembled underneath her banks, 

To hear the replication of your sounds 50 

Made in her concave shores? 

And do you now put on your best attire? 

And do you now cull out a holiday? 

And do you now strew flowers in his way 

That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood? 85 

Be gone! 

Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, 

Pray to the gods to intermit the plague 

That needs must light on this ingratitude. 

Flew. Go, go, good countrymen, and, for this fault, 60 

Assemble all the poor men of your sort ; 

Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears 

Into the channel, till the lowest stream 

Do kiss the most exalted shores of all. 

[Exeunt all the Commoners. 

See, whether their basest metal be not mov'd; 65 

They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness. 

Go you down that way towards the Capitol; 

This way will I : disrobe the images, 

If you do find them decked with ceremonies. 

50. replication, echo. 
53. oull out, pick out. 

65. basest metal, extremely base mettle (spirit). 
69. ceremonies, decorations ; see line 73 and Sc. ii., 286. 
3 



34 JULIUS CAESAR. [Actl.Sc.ii. 

Mar. May we do so? 70 

You know it is the feast of Lupercal. 

Flav. It is no matter ; let no images 

Be hung with Caesar's trophies. Fll about, 

And drive away the vulgar from the streets: 

So do you too, where you perceive them thick. 75 

These growing feathers pluck'd from Caesar's wing 

Will make him fly an ordinary pitch, 

Who else would soar above the view of men 

And keep us all in servile fearfulness. [Exeunt. 



Scene II. A 'public place. 

Flourish. Enter Caesar; Antony, for the course; Cal- 
purnia, Portia, Decius, Cicero, Brutus, Cassius, 
and Casca; a great crowd following, among them a 
Soothsayer. 

Caes. Calpurnia ! 

Casca. Peace, ho ! Caesar speaks. 

Caes. Calpurnia ! 

Cal. Here, my lord. 

Caes. Stand you directly in Antonius' way, 
When he doth run his course. Antonius ! 

71. Lupercal, a feast in honor of Lupercus, god of fertility. 

74. the vulgar, the common people, the rabble (Latin vulgus). 

77. pitch, a term in falconry for the highest flight of a hawk. 

The characters of this Scene do not reappear. What do they let us 
know of the condition of affairs at Rome ? What various impressions of 
"the vulgar" are given? Note: the sudden rise from low comedy to 
stately eloquence; the use of prose and verse; the use of "you" and 
" thou " (see note on II. iv., 12). 

Enter Caesar, on his way to the Forum to witness the games of the 
Lupercalia. As one of the priests in charge, Antony is among those who, 
"running naked up and down the city, anointed with oil of olive, for 
pleasure do strike them they meet in their way with white leather 
thongs" (Plutarch). 



ActI.Sc.ii-3 JULIUS CAESAR. 35 

Ant. Caesar, my lord? 5 

Caes. Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, 

To touch Calpurnia; for our elders say, 

The barren, touched in this holy chase, 

Shake off their sterile curse. 
Ant. I shall remember: 

When Caesar says "Do this," it is perform'd. 10 

Caes. Set on; and leave no ceremony out. 

[Flourish 
Sooth. Caesar ! 
Caes. Ha! who calls? 

Casca. Bid every noise be still : peace yet again ! 
Caes. Who is it in the press that calls on me ? 15 

I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music, 

Cry "Caesar!" Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear. 
Sooth. Beware the ides of March ! 
Caes. What man is that ? 

Bru. A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March. 
Caes. Set him before me; let me see his face. 20 

Cas. Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar. 
Caes. What say'st thou to me now ? speak once again. 
Sooth. Beware the ides of March ! 
Caes. He is a dreamer ; let us leave him : pass. 

[Sennet. Exeunt all except Brutus and Cassius. 

Cas. Will you go see the order of the course? 25 

Bru. Not I. 

Cas. I pray you, do. 

Bru. I am not gamesome : I do lack some part 

7. Calpurnia, Caesar's fourth wife ; she was childless. How would 
Caesar's expressed desire for an heir affect the conspirators ? 

12. Soothsayer, vates, prophet ; sooth = truth. 

18. Beware the ides (fifteenth day) of March. Analyze the dramatic 
effectiveness of this vague note of impending evil sounded at this time 
and place. 



36 JULIUS CAESAR. [Actl.Sc.ii. 

Of that quick spirit that is in Antony. 

Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires; 30 

I'll leave you. 

Cas. Brutus, I do observe you now of late: 
I have not from your eyes that gentleness 
And show of love as I was wont to have : 
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand 35 

Over your friend that loves you. 

Bru. Cassius, 

Be not deceived : if I have veiPd my look, 
I turn the trouble of my countenance 
Merety upon myself. Vexed I am 
Of late with passions of some difference, 40 

Conceptions only proper to myself, 
Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviours; 
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved — 
Among which number, Cassius, be you one — 
Nor construe any further my neglect, 45 

Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war, 
Forgets the shows of love to other men. 

Cas. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion ; 
By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried 
Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations. 50 

Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face ? 

Bru. No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself 
But by reflection by some other things. 

Cas. 'Tis just: 

And it is very much lamented, Brutus, bs 

29. quick, lively. Antony, called in V. i., 62, a "reveler," is "given 
to sports, to wildness, and much company " (II. i., 188). 

40. passions of some difference, conflicting emotions, viz., his love for 
Caesar and his love for Rome. This inner struggle of "poor Brutus, with 
himself at war " gives tragic pathos to his part in the conspiracy. 

42. give some soil, somewhat soil, mar. behaviours, manners. 

64. 'lis just, 'tis true. Here, as in numerous other lines, some words 
are probably left out. 



ActI.Sc.ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 37 

That you have no such mirrors that will turn 

Your hidden worthiness into your eye, 

That you might see your shadow. I have heard, 

Where many of the best respect in Kome, 

Except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus m 

And groaning underneath this age's yoke, 

Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes. 

Bru. Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius, 
That you would have me seek into myself 
For that which is not in me? 65 

Cas. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear: 
And since you know you cannot see yourself 
So well as by reflection, I, your glass, 
Will modestly discover to yourself 

That of yourself which you yet know not of. 70 

And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus: 
Were I a common laugher, or did use 
To stale with ordinary oaths my love 
To every new protester; if you know 
That I do fawn on men and hug them hard T5 

And after scandal them, or if you know 
That I profess myself in banqueting 
To all the rout, then hold me dangerous. 

[Flourish and shout 

Bru. What means this shouting ? I do fear, the people 

Choose Caesar for their king. 
Cas. Ay, do you fear it ? so 

Then must I think you would not have it so. 
Bru. I would not, Cassius; yet I love him well. 

But wherefore do you hold me here so long? 

What is it that you would impart to me ? 

71. jealous on, distrustful of. 

72. laugher, jester, hail-fellow-well-met- 



38 JULIUS CAESAR. [Actl.Sc.ii. 

If it be aught toward the general good, 85 

Set honour in one eye and death i' th J other, 
And I will look on both indifferently; 
For let the gods so speed me as I love 
The name of honour more than I fear death. 
Cas. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, so 

As well as I do know your outward favour. 
Well, honour is the subject of my story. 
I cannot tell what you and other men 
Think of this life; but, for my single self, 
I had as lief not be as live to be 95 

In awe of such a thing as I myself. 
I was born free as Caesar; so were you: 
We both have fed as well, and we can both 
Endure the winter's cold as well as he : 
For once, upon a raw and gusty day, 100 

The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, 
Caesar said to me "Dar'st thou, Cassius, now 
Leap in with me into this angry flood, 
And swim to yonder point ?" Upon the word, 
Accoutred as I was, I plunged in 105 

And bade him follow; so indeed he did. 
The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it 
With lusty sinews, throwing it aside 
And stemming it with hearts of controversy; 
But ere we could arrive the point propos'd, 11c 

Caesar cried "Help me, Cassius, or I sink I" 

85. toward the general good, the key to Brutus' s conduct. See II. i., 
11, 12, and V. v., 69-72. 

86. honour, public esteem or, perhaps, advancement, in, before. 

87. indifferently, impartially. The interpretation is easier if, with 
Theobald, we read "death" for "both," in which case "indifferently" 
may mean : "with indifference, unconcern." 

91. favour, appearance. 

96. such a thing as I, i. e., a mere man, meaning Caesar. 

109. hearts of controversy, combative or brave hearts. 



ActI.Sc.ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 39 

I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor, 

Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder 

The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber 

Did I the tired Caesar. And this man n 5 

Is now become a god, and Cassius is 

A wretched creature and must bend his body, 

If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. 

He had a fever when he was in Spain, 

And when the fit was on him, I did mark 120 

How he did shake : 'tis true, this god did shake : 

His coward lips did from their colour fly, 

And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world 

Did lose his lustre : I did hear him groan : 

Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans 125 

Mark him and write his speeches in their books, 

Alas, it cried "Give me some drink, Titinius," 

As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me 

A man of such a feeble temper should 

So get the start of the majestic world iso 

And bear the palm alone. 

[Shout. Flourish. 

Bru. Another general shout ! 

I do believe that these applauses are 

For some new honours that are heaped on Caesar. 

Cas. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world 135 

Like a Colossus, and we petty men 
Walk under his huge legs and peep about 
To find ourselves dishonourable graves. 
Men at some time are masters of their fates : 

112. Aeneas, he was the reputed great-grandfather of Romulus. 

122. from their colour fly, as a soldier from his "colors." 

124. his. The neuter " its " was then just coming into use. Shakspere 
used both forms. 

136. Colossus, ships were said to have sailed under the legs of the 
Colossus of Rhodes. 



40 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act I. Sc. ii. 

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, uo 

But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 
Brutus and Caesar : what should be in that "Caesar" ? 
Why should that name be sounded more than yours ? 
Write them together, yours is as fair a name; 
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well ; 145 

Weigh them, it is as heavy ; conjure with 'em, 
"Brutus" will start a spirit as soon as "Caesar." 
Now, in the names of all the gods at once, 
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed, 
That he is grown so great ? Age, thou art sham'd ! 150 
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods! 
When went there by an age, since the great flood, 
But it was fam'd with more than with one man? 
When could they say till now, that talk'd of Rome, 
That her wide walls encompass'd but one man ? 155 

Now is it Rome indeed and room enough, 
When there is in it but one only man. 
O, you and I have heard our fathers say, 
There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd 
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome 160 

As easily as a king. 
Bru. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous ; 
What you would work me to, I have some aim : 

140. Keppler, the greatest astronomer of Shakspere's time, and Bacon, 
the greatest philosopher, believed in some influence of the stars on human 
affairs. The very word "influence," as well as "disaster" and "ill- 
starred," reflects the belief in astrology. 

152. the great flood, that of Deucalion, the Noah of Greek mythology. 

156. Rome (printed "Roome" in First Folio) rhymes with "room." 
Such bitter puns in moments of intense feeling are not uncommon in 
Shakspere ; see III. i., 204-8. 

159. a Brutus once, i. e., Lucius Junius Brutus; he is assumed, in the 
play, to be an ancestor of Marcus Brutus. Cassius has appealed to Brutus's 
personal pride ; he now appeals to his family pride. Does he anywhere 
lay stress on "the general good " ? 

162. I am nothing jealous, I do not doubt. 



Act I. Sc. ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 41 

How I have thought of this and of these times, 

I shall recount hereafter; for this present, 165 

I would not, so with love I might entreat you, 

Be any further mov'd. What you have said 

I will consider; what you have to say 

I will with patience hear, and find a time 

Both meet to hear and answer such high things. no 

Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this : 

Brutus had rather be a villager 

Than to repute himself a son of Rome 

Under these hard conditions as this time 

Is like to lay upon us. 175 

Cas. I am glad 

That my weak words have struck but thus much show 
Of fire from Brutus. 

Bru. The games are done and Caesar is returning. 

Cas. As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve; ieo 

And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you 
What hath proceeded worthy note to-day. 

Re-enter Caesar and his Train. 

Bru. I will do so. — But, look you, Cassius, 

The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow, 

And all the rest look like a chidden train : 185 

Calpu-rnia's cheek is pale; and Cicero 

Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes 

As we have seen him in the Capitol, 

Being cross'd in conference by some senators. 

Cas. Casca will tell us what the matter is. 190 

Caes. Antonius! 

Ant. Caesar? 

Caes. Let me have men about me that are fat, 

Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights : 

187. The ferret has fierce, red eyes. 



42 JULIUS CAESAR. [Actl.Sc.ii. 

Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look ; 195 

He thinks too much : such men are dangerous. 

Ant. Fear him not, Caesar; he's not dangerous; 
He is a noble Roman and well given. 

Caes. Would he were fatter ! But I fear him not : 

Yet if my name were liable to fear, 200 

I do not know the man I should avoid 
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much; 
He is a great observer, and he looks 
Quite through the deeds of men ; he loves no plays, 
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music; 205 

Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort 
As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit 
That could be mov'd to smile at any thing. 
Such men as he be never at heart's ease 
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves, 210 

And therefore are they very dangerous. 
I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd 
Than what I fear ; for always I am Caesar. 
Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf, 
And tell me truly what thou think'st of him. 215 

[Sennet. Exeunt Caesar and all his Train but Casca. 

Casca. You pulled me by the cloak ; would you speak with 
me? 

Bru. Ay, Casca ; tell us what hath chanc'd to-day, 
That Caesar looks so sad. 

Casca. Why, you were with him, were you not ? 

Bru. I should not then ask Casca what had chanc'd. 220 

205. he hears no music. Compare the statement in The Merchant of 
Venice : 

" The man that hath no music in himself, 
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, 
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils." — V. i. 

209. Such men, etc. Of the truth of this Cassius gave ample proof in 
his talk with Brutus. 



Actl.Sc.ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 43 

Casca. Why, there was a crown offer'd him: and being 
offer'd him, he put it by with the back of his hand, 
thus; and then the people fell a-shouting. 

Bru. What was the second noise for? 

Casca. Why, for that too. 225 

Cas. They shouted thrice : what was the last cry for ? 

Casca. Why, for that too. 

Bru. Was the crown offer'd him thrice? 

Casca. Ay, marry, was't, and he put it by thrice, every 
time gentler than other ; and at every putting-by mine 230 
honest neighbours shouted. 

Cas. Who offer'd him the crown? 

Casca. W T hy, Antony. 

Bru. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca. 

Casca. I can as well be hang'd as tell the manner of it : 235 
it was mere foolery; I did not mark it. I saw Mark 
Antony offer him a crown; — yet 'twas not a crown 
neither, 'twas one of these coronets; — and, as I told 
you, he put it by once : but, for all that, to my think- 
ing, he would fain have had it. Then he offer'd it to 240 
him again ; then he put it by again : but, to my think- 
ing, he was very loath to lay his fingers off it. And 
then he offer'd it the third time; he put it the third 
time by: and still as he refus'd it, the rabblement 
shouted and clapp'd their chapp'd hands and threw 245 
up their sweaty night-caps and utter'd such a deal 
of stinking breath because Caesar refus'd the crown 
that it had almost chok'd Caesar; for he swounded 
and fell down at it: and for mine own part, I durst 

229. marry, a corruption of Mary (the Virgin) ; a common exclama- 
tion. 

237. a crown, a laurel wreath encircled with a white hand, "the 
ancient mark and token of a king" (Plutarch). 

246. Night-caps. The pile us, worn hy freedmen, resembled a night- 
cap. See that worn by Liberty on American coins. 



44 JULIUS CAESAR. [Actl.Sc.ii. 

not laugh, for fear of opening my lips and receiving 250 
the bad air. 

Cas. But, soft, I pray you : what, did Caesar swound ? 

Casca. He fell down in the market-place, and foam'd at 
mouth, and was speechless. 

Bru. 'Tis very like : he hath the falling sickness. 255 

Cas. No, Caesar hath it not; but you and I 

And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness. 

Casca. I know not what you mean by that ; but I am sure 
Caesar fell down. If the tag-rag people did not clap 
him and hiss him, according as he pleas' d and dis- aeo 
pleas'd them, as they use to do the players in the 
theatre, I am no true man. 

Bru. What said he when he came unto himself? 

Casca. Marry, before he fell down, when he perceiv'd the 
common herd was glad he refus'd the crown, he 265 
pluck'd me ope his doublet and offer'd them his throat 
to cut. — An I had been a man of any occupation, 
if I would not have taken him at a word, I would I 
might go to hell among the rogues. — And so he fell. 
When he came to himself again, he said, If he had 270 
done or said any thing amiss, he desir'd their worships 
to think it was his infirmity. Three or four wenches, 
where I stood, cried "Alas, good soul!" and forgave 
him with all their hearts: but there's no heed to be 
taken of them; if Caesar had stabb'd their mothers, 275 
they would have done no less. 

Bru. And after that, he came, thus sad, away ? 

Casca. Ay. 

Cas. Did Cicero say any thing? 

255. falling sickness, epilepsy ; Caesar had this disease. 

266. pluok'd me (ethical dative) ope his doublet, the close-fitting coat of 
the Elizabethan period, at which time actors rarely dressed "in costume." 

267. an, a shorter form of "and," usually meaning "if." occupation, 
trade. Casca means : If I had been one of the workingmen. Is not the 



ActI.Sc.ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 45 

Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek. 2&0 

Cas. To what effect? 

Casca. Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look yon i' th' 
face again: but those that understood him smil'd at 
one another and shook their heads ; but, for mine own 
part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you more news 285 
too: Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs off 
Caesar's images, are put to silence. Fare you well. 
There was more foolery yet, if I could remember it. 

Cas. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca? 

Casca. No, I am promis'd forth. 290 

Cas. Will you dine with me to-morrow ? 

Casca. Ay, if I be alive and your mind hold and your 
dinner worth the eating. 

Cas. Good : I will expect you. 

Casca. Do so. Farewell, both, [Exit Casca. 296 

Bru. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be ! 
He was quick mettle when he went to school. 

Cas. So is he now in execution 

Of any bold or noble enterprise, 

However he puts on this tardy form. 300 

This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit, 

Which gives men stomach to digest his words 

With better appetite. 

Bru. And so it is. For this time I will leave you: 

To-morrow, if you please to speak with me, 305 

I will come home to you ; or, if you will, 
Come home to me, and I will wait for you. 

Cas. I will do so : till then, think of the world. 

[Exit Brutus. 

brusquerie of Casca a relief from the craftiness of Cassius and the reserve 
of Brutus? 

280. He spoke Greek. Cicero was called "the Grecian," for his fre- 
quent and correct use of Greek. 

297. quiok mettle, lively spirit. 



46 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act I. Sc. iii. 

Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet, I see, 

Thy honourable metal may be wrought 310 

From that it is disposed : therefore it is meet 

That noble minds keep ever with their likes ; 

For who so firm that cannot be seduc'd ? 

Caesar doth bear me hard ; but he loves Brutus : 

If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius, sis 

He should not humour me. I will this night, 

In several hands, in at his windows throw, 

As if they came from several citizens, 

Writings all tending to the great opinion 

That Rome holds of his name; wherein obscurely 320 

Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at: 

And after this let Caesar seat him sure; 

For we will shake him, or worse days endure. 



[Exit 



Scene III. The same. A street. 



Thunder and lightning. Enter, from opposite sides, 
Casca, with his sword drawn, and Cicero. 

Cic. Good even, Casca: brought you Caesar home? 
Why are you breathless ?' and why stare you so? 

Casca. Are not you mov'd, when all the sway of earth 
Shakes like a thing unfirm ? Cicero, 
I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds 
Have riv'd the knotty oaks, and I have seen 
The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam, 

309-313. A rather brutally frank piece of cynicism. 

315-6. Cassius seems to mean that if he were, like Brutus, in Caesar's 
favor, he would not be influenced against Caesar by any disaffected 
Cassius. Or " he " of line 316 may refer to Caesar. 

322. seat him, i. e., seat himself. 

This Scene has chiefly served to reveal the characters of Caesar and the 
leading conspirators. What mental picture have we of each ? 

3. the sway, either "the realm" or "the balanced swing" (Craik). 



Act I. Sc. ill.] JULIUS CAESAR. 47 

To be exalted with the threat'ning clouds: 

But never till to-night, never till now, 

Did I go through a tempest dropping fire. 10 

Either there is a civil strife in heaven, 

Or else the world, too saucy with the gods, 

Incenses them to send destruction. 

Cic. Why, saw you any thing more wonderful? 

Casca. A common slave — you know him well by sight — 15 
Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn 
Like twenty torches joined, and yet his hand, 
Not sensible of fire, remain' d unscorch'd. 
Besides — I ha' not since put up my sword — 
Against the Capitol I met a lion, 20 

Who glared upon me, and went surly by, 
Without annoying me; and there were drawn 
Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women, 
Transformed with their fear, who swore they saw 
Men all in fire walk up and down the streets. 25 

And yesterday the bird of night did sit 
Even at noon-day upon the market-place, 
Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies 
Do so conjointly meet, let not men say, 
"These are their reasons; they are natural"; 30 

For, I believe, they are portentous things 
Unto the climate that they point upon. 

Cic. Indeed, it is a strange-disposed time ; 

But men may construe things after their fashion, 
Clean from the purpose of the things themselves. 35 
Comes Caesar to the Capitol to-morrow ? 

For Plutarch's description of this night see page 155. The elevated style 
of Casca's words here is in striking contrast with his brusque speech in 
the preceding scene. He there spoke in prose, here in verse. 

26. bird of night, the owl. Pliny says, " The screech-owl betokeneth 
always some heavy news, and is most execrable and accursed." 

32. olimate, region, country. 



48 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act I. Sc. iii. 

Casca. He doth; for he bid Antonius 

Send word to you he would be there to-morrow. 

Cic. Good night then, Casca : this disturbed sky 
Is not to walk in. 

Casca. Farewell, Cicero. 40 

[Exit Cicero. 
Enter Cassius. 

Cas. Who's there? 

Casca. A Roman. 

Cas. Casca, by your voice. 

Casca. Your ear is good. Cassius, what night is this ! 

Cas. A very pleasing night to honest men. 

Casca. Who ever knew the heavens menace so? 

Cas. Those that have known the earth so full of faults. 45 
For my part, I have walk'd about the streets, 
Submitting me unto the perilous night, 
And, thus unbraced, Casca, as you see, 
Have bar'd my bosom to the thunder-stone; 
And when the cross blue lightning seem'd to open 50 
The breast of heaven, I did present myself 
Even in the aim and very flash of it. 

Casca. But wherefore did you so much tempt the heavens ? 
It is the part of men to fear and tremble, 
When the most mighty gods by tokens send 55 

Such dreadful heralds to astonish us. 

Cas. You are dull, Casca, and those sparks of life 
That should be in a Roman you do want, 
Or else you use not. You look pale and gaze 
And put on fear and case yourself in wonder, 60 

To see the strange impatience of the heavens : 

48. unbraced, with doublet open. 

49. thunder-stone, thunder-bolt, a stone supposed to fall with the 
lightning. 

60. case, encase, clothe. Most editors read " cast yourself," throw 
yourself into. 



AetI.Sc/iik] JULIUS CAESAR. 49 

But if you would consider the true cause 

Why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts, 

Why birds and beasts from quality and kind, 

Why old men fool and children calculate, 65 

Why all these things change from their ordinance 

Their natures and preformed faculties 

To monstrous quality, — why, you shall find 

That heaven hath infus'd them with these spirits, 

To make them instruments of fear and warning 70 

Unto some monstrous state. 

Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man 

Most like this dreadful night, 

That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars 

As doth the lion in the Capitol, — 75 

A man no mightier than thyself or me 

In personal action, yet prodigious grown 

And fearful, as these strange eruptions are. 

Casca. 'Tis Caesar that you mean; is it not, Cassius? 

Cas. Let it be who it is : for Romans now 80 

Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors; 
But, woe the while ! our fathers' minds are dead, 
And we are governed with our mothers' spirits; 
Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish. 

Casca. Indeed, they say the senators to-morrow 85 

Mean to establish Caesar as a king; 
And he shall wear his crown by sea and land, 
In every place save here in Italy. 

63-7. Birds and beasts, like old men and children, act contrary to their 
natures. Ordinance, that which is ordained, established, natural. 

77. prodigious, portentous, threatening. 

82. our fathers' minds. Note the emphasis on "minds." Cassius here 
gives the reason which made some Caesar necessary, lest there be another 
Sulla. 

85-9. Caesar was about to go on an expedition against the Parthi- 
ans, who, the Sibylline books declared, could be conquered only by a 
king. 

4 



50 JULIUS CAESAR. [ActLSc.iii. 

Cas. I know where I will wear this dagger then; 

Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius: go 

Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong; 

Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat: 

Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass, 

Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, 

Can be retentive to the strength of spirit; 95 

But life, being weary of these worldly bars, 

Never lacks power to dismiss itself. 

If I know this, know all the world besides, 

That part of tyranny that I do bear 

I can shake off at pleasure. 

[Thunder still. 100 

Casca. So can I : 

So every bondman in his own hand bears 
The power to cancel his captivity. 

Cas. And why should Caesar be a tyrant then? 
Poor man ! I know he would not be a wolf, 
But that he sees the Eomans are but sheep : 105 

He were no lion, were not Romans hinds. 
Those that with haste will make a mighty fire 
Begin it with weak straws : what trash is Eome, 
What rubbish and what offal, when it serves 
For the base matter to illuminate 110 

So vile a thing as Caesar ! But, grief, 
Where hast thou led me ? I perhaps speak this 
Before a willing bondman; then I know 
My answer must be made. But I am arm'd, 
And dangers are to me indifferent. 

Casca. You speak to Casca, and to such a man 
That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold, my hand: 

90-102. Suicide is a strangely frequent motive in Shakspere's trage- 
dies. 

117. fleering, deceitfully smiling. 



Act I. Sc. in.] JULIUS CAESAR. 51 

Be factious for redress of all these griefs, 
And I will set this foot of mine as far 
As who goes farthest. 

Cas. There's a bargain made. 120 

Now know you, Casca, I have mov'd already 
Some certain of the noblest-minded Romans 
To undergo with me an enterprise 
Of honourable-dangerous consequence; 
And I do know, by this, they stay for me 125 

In Pompty's porch : for now, this fearful night, 
There is no stir or walking in the streets; 
And the complexion of the element 
In favour 's like the work we have in hand, 
Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible. 130 

Casca. Stand close awhile, for here comes one in haste. 

Cas. 'Tis China ; I do know him by his gait ; 
He is a friend. 

Enter Cinna. 

Cinna, where haste you so? 
Cin. To find out you. Who's that? Metellus Cimber? 
Cas. No, it is Casca; one incorporate 135 

To our attempts. Am I not stay'd for, Cinna ? 
Cin. I am glad on't. What a fearful night is this ! 

There's two or three of us have seen strange sights. 
Cas. Am I not stay'd for ? tell me. 
Cin. Yes, you are. 

Cassius, if you could 140 

But win the noble Brutus to our party — 
<Cas. Be you content : good Cinna, take this paper, 

And look you lay it in the praetor's chair, 

118. Be factious, form a faction, a party, griefs, grievances. 
128. oomplexion of the element, aspect of the sky. 
135. one incorporate to, one identified with. 



52 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act I. Sc. iii. 

Where Brutus may but find it ; and throw this 

In at his window; set this up with wax 145 

Upon old Brutus' statue: all this done, 

Bepair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find us. 

Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there? 

Gin. All but Metellus Cimber; and he's gone 

To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie, 150 

And so bestow these papers as you bade me. 

Cos. That done, repair to Pompey's theatre. 

*[Exit Cinna. 
Come, Casca, you and I will yet ere day 
See Brutus at his house : three parts of him 
Is ours already, and the man entire 155 

Upon the next encounter yields him ours. 

Casca. 0, he sits high in all the people's hearts : 
And that which would appear offence in us, 
His countenance, like richest alchemy, 
Will change to virtue and to worthiness. ico 

Cas. Him and his worth and our great need of him 
You have right well conceited. Let us go, 
For it is after midnight; and e'er day 
We will awake him and be sure of him. [Exeunt. 

147. Pompey's porch, a colonnade of Pompey's theatre. 

159. alchemy, another anachronism. The attempt to change base 
metals into gold began in the Middle Ages. 

What are the dramatic values of the full and detailed account, in this 
Scene, of the "fearful night," with its "strange sights " ? How does the 
supernatural element affect a modern audience ? 



ACT SECOND. 

Scene I. Rome. Brutus's orchard. 

Enter Brutus. 

Bru. What, Lucius, ho ! — 

I cannot by the progress of the stars, 

Give guess how near to day. — Lucius, I say ! — 

I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly. — 

When, Lucius, when ? awake, I say ! what, Lucius ! 5 

Enter Lucius. 

Luc. CalPd you, my lord? 

Bru. Get me a taper in my study, Lucius ; 

When it is lighted, come and call me here. 

Luc. I will, my lord. [Exit. 

Bru. It must be by his death; and, for my part, 10 

I know no personal cause to spurn at him, 
But for the general. He would be crown'd: 
How that might change liis nature, there's the ques- 
tion. 
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder ; 

Scene. — This scene in Brutus's garden (not "orchard" in the mod- 
ern sense) is one of the two night scenes in the play, the other being 
that in Brutus's tent (IV. iii). 

10-34. This gives the conclusion of a long mental struggle. It shows 
Brutus's fatal fault — his political pedantry, which befogs his brain and 
stifles his heart. It decides him to kill the one whom he loves and whom 
he calls (IV. iii., 22) "the foremost man of all this world," not for what 
Caesar has done, but merely for what he "may" do. 

11. spurn at, strike at. 

12. But (I will do so) for the general (good). Others take " general " 
as a noun — "the people." 

53 



54 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. Sc. i. 

And that craves wary walking. Crown him? — that; — 15 

And then, I grant, we put a sting in him, 

That at his will he may do danger with. 

The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins 

Remorse from power: and, to speak truth of Caesar, 

I have not known when his affections swayed 20 

More than his reason. But 'tis a common proof, 

That lowliness is young ambition's ladder, 

Whereto the climber upward turns his face ; 

But when he once attains the upmost round, 

He then unto the ladder turns his back, 25 

Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees 

By which he did ascend. So Caesar may; 

Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel 

Will bear no colour for the thing he is, 

Fashion it thus : that what he is, augmented, 30 

Would run to these and these extremities; 

And therefore think him as a serpent's egg 

Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, 

And kill him in the shell. 

Re-enter Lucius. 

Luc. The taper burnetii in your closet, sir. 35 

Searching the window for a flint, I found 

15. craves, requires. Crown him. It was proposed to make Caesar 
king over the provinces only (I. iii., 86-9), as the English sovereign is 
" emperor" over India only. It was the title "rex" which Brutus so 
hated and feared ; for Caesar had long exercised the most regal powers, 
even in Italy, without abusing them (lines 20, 21). 

19. remorse, mercy, or pity. 

20. affections, passions. 

21. oommon proof, common experience. 

26. base degrees, lower rounds (of "the ladder"). 

27. So Caesar may. On the question of Brutus's motives see p. 140. 

28. prevent (from pre venio), "get ahead of" him. 

28-30. The sense is : Since our course will not seem justified by what 
Caesar now is, we will present the case thus : that what he is, etc. 



ActlLSci.] JULIUS CAESAR. 55 

This paper, thus seaPd up ; and I am sure 

It did not lie there when I went to bed. 

{Gives him the letter. 
Bru. Get you to bed again; it is not day. 

Is not to-morrow, boy, the ides of March? 40 

Luc. I know not, sir. 

Bru. Look in the calendar, and bring me word. 
Luc. I will, sir. [Exit. 

Bru. The exhalations whizzing in the air 

Give so much light that I may read by them. 45 

[Opens the letter and reads. 

"Brutus, thou sleep'st : awake and see thyself. 
Shall Rome, etc. Speak, strike, redress ! " 

"Brutus, thou sleep'st : awake !" 

Such instigations have been often dropp'd 

Where I have took them up. 50 

"Shall Rome, etc." Thus must I piece it out: 

Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What, 

Rome? 
My ancestors did from the streets of Rome 
The Tarquin drive, when he was calPd a king. 
"Speak, strike, redress !" Am I entreated 55 

To speak and strike ? Rome, I make thee promise ; 
If the redress will follow, thou receivest 
Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus ! 

Re-enter Lucius. 

Luc. Sir, March is wasted fifteen days. 

[Knocking within. 
Bru. 'Tis good. Go to the gate ; somebody knocks. 60 

[Exit Lucius. 

44. exhalations, meteors, supposed to be exhaled from the clouds. 
56. I make thee promise, I promise thee. The emphasis in the follow- 
ing lines is upon " redress" and " full." 



56 JULIUS CAESAR. [Actll.Sai 

Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar 

I have not slept. 

Between the acting of a dreadful thing 

And the first motion, all the interim is 

Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream: 65 

The genius and the mortal instruments 

Are then in council; and the state of man, 

Like to a little kingdom, suffers then 

The nature of an insurrection. 

Re-enter Lucius. 

Luc. Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door, 70 

Who doth desire to see you. 

Bru. Is he alone? 

Luc. No, sir, there are moe with him. 

Bru. Do you know them? 

Luc. No, sir, their hats are pluck'd about their ears, 
And half their faces buried in their cloaks, 
That by no means I may discover them 75 

By any mark of favour. 

Bru. Let 'em enter. 

[Exit Lucius. 
They are the faction. conspiracy, 
Sham'st thou to show thy dang'rous brow by night, 
When evils are most free ? 0, then by day 
Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough go 

64. motion, impulse (to the act.) 

65. phantasma, vision. 

66. The genius and the mortal instruments, probably, one's guardian 
spirit and one's own human powers ; or, one's reason and passions ; or, 
one's soul and bodily powers. 

70. brother, brother-in-law. 

72. moe, more. 

73, 74. hats, cloaks, Elizabethan dress, of course. 

77. conspiracy, etc. What evidence here of the "insurrection" in 
Brutus's mind ? 



Actll.Sc.i.] JULIUS CAESAR. 57 

To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, con- 
spiracy ; 
Hide it in smiles and affability: 
For if thou path, thy native semblance on, 
Not Erebus itself were dim enough 
To hide thee from prevention. 85 

Enter the conspirators, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, 
Metellus Cimber, and Trebonius. 

Cas. I think we are too bold upon your rest: 

Good morrow, Brutus ; do we trouble you ? 
Bru. I have been up this hour, awake all night. 

Know I these men that come along with you ? 
Cas. Yes, every man of them; and no man here 90 

But honours you; and every one doth wish 

You had but that opinion of yourself 

Which every noble Roman bears of you. 

This is Trebonius. 
Bru. He is welcome hither. 

Cas. This, Decius Brutus. 
Bru. He is welcome too. 

Cas. This, Casca; this, Cinna; and this, Metellus Cimber. 95 
Bru. They are all welcome. 

What watchful cares do interpose themselves 

Betwixt your eyes and night? 
Cas. Shall I entreat a word? 

[Brutus and Cassius whisper apart. 
Dec. Here lies the east: doth not the day break here? 10 o 
Casca. No. 

83. The meaning is: "If thou goest about showing thy true charac- 
ter." Some read " put" for "path " and omit the comma. 

84. Erebus, the region of utter darkness between earth and hades. 
100-110. This commonplace talk not only fills in the time while Cassius 

"sounds" Brutus, but, as Verity says, "lends indescribable naturalness 
and reality " to the scene. 



58 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. Sc. i. 

Cin. 0, pardon, sir, it doth; and yon gray lines 
That fret the clouds are messengers of day. 

Casca. You shall confess that you are both deceiv'd. 

Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises, 105 

Which is a great way growing on the south, 
Weighing the youthful season of the year. 
Some two months hence up higher toward the north 
He first presents his fire ; and the high east 
Stands, as the Capitol, directly here. 110 

[Brutus and Cassius approach the others. 

Bra. Give me your hands all over, one by one. 

Cas. And let us swear our resolution. 

Bru. No, not an oath : if not the face of men, 

The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse, — 

If these be motives weak, break off betimes, 115 

And every man hence to his idle bed; 

So let high-sighted tyranny range on, 

Till each man drop by lottery. But if these, 

As I am sure they do, bear fire enough 

To kindle cowards and to steel with valour 120 

The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen, 

What need we any spur but our own cause 

To prick us to redress ? what other bond 

Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word, 

And will not palter? and what other oath 125 

Than honesty to honesty engag'd 

That this shall be, or we will fall for it ? 

113-114. if not the face, etc. The meaning seems to be : " If the faces 
of the people (who look appealingly to us), the sufferings of our own 
souls, the public wrongs,— if these," etc. For " face " some read "faith " 
(in which case " men " is emphatic and refers to the conspirators) ; others 
read " fate." Note that Brutus at once assumes tbe leadership. 

118. by lottery, at the time allotted (by destiny or by the tyrant). 
Steevens thought there may be allusion to decimation — " the selection of 
every tenth soldier, in a general mutiny, for punishment." 

124. seoret Romans, Romans pledged to secrecy. 



Actll.Sci.] JULIUS CAESAR. 50 

Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous, 

Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls 

That welcome wrongs; unto bad causes swear 130 

Such creatures as men doubt; but do not stain 

The even virtue of our enterprise, 

Nor th' insuppressive mettle of our spirits, 

To think that or our cause or our performance 

Did need an oath; when every drop of blood 135 

That every Eoman bears, and nobly bears, 

Is guilty of a several bastardy 

If he do break the smallest particle 

Of any promise that hath pass'd from him. 

Cos. But what of Cicero ? shall we sound him ? 140 

I think he will stand very strong with us. 

Casca. Let us not leave him out. 

Cin. No, by no means. 

Met. 0, let us have him, for his silver hairs 
Will purchase us a good opinion 

And buy men's voices to commend our deeds: 146 

It shall be said, his judgment rul'd our hands ; 
Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear, 
But all be buried in his gravity. 

Bru. 0, name him not : let us not break with him ; 

For he will never follow any thing iso 

That other men begin. 

Cas. Then leave him out. 

Casca. Indeed he is not fit. 

Dec. Shall no man else be touch'd but only Caesar? 

128. oautelous, crafty. 

129. carrions, worthless persons. 

132. even, unblemished. 

133. insuppressive mettle, insuppressible ardor. 

143. silver "suggests 'purchase' and 'buy' in the following lines" 
(Wright). 

149. break with, communicate with. 



60 JULIUS CAESAR. [Actll.Sc.i. 

Cas. Decius, well urg'd : I think it is not meet 

Mark Antony, so well belov'd of Caesar, 155 

Should outlive Caesar : we shall find of him 

A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means, 

If he improve them, may well stretch so far 

As to annoy us all: which to prevent, 

Let Antony and Caesar fall together. ico 

Bru. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, 
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, 
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards; 
For Antony is but a limb of Caesar. 
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. 166 

We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar ; 
And in the spirit of men there is no blood : 
0, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit, 
And not dismember Caesar ! But, alas, 
Caesar must bleed for it ! And, gentle friends, no 

Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathf ully ; 
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods, 
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds : 
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do, 
Stir up their servants to an act of rage, iw 

And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make 
Our purpose necessary and not envious : 
Which so appearing to the common eyes, 
We shall be call'd purgers, not murtherers. 
And for Mark Anton}', think not of him ; isc 

163. envy afterwards, malice shown after the death of the one 
killed. 

168. Caesar's spirit. This is that which thev could not "come by" 
when they did "dismember Caesar." See III. i., 270-5. 

175. their servants are doubtless the "mortal instruments" of 
line 66. 

180-2. In the first reason given for sparing Antony (lines 161-5) Brutus 
shows too much humanity to be a fit leader for such a conspiracy ; here 
he shows too little insight into men. 



ActlLSci.] JULIUS CAESAR. 61 

For he can do no more than Caesar's arm 
When Caesar's head is off. 

Cas. Yet I fear him ; 

For in the ingrafted love he bears to Caesar — 

Bru. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him: 

If he love Caesar, all that he can do iss 

Is to himself, take thought and die for Caesar : 
And that were much he should ; for he is given 
To sports, to wildness and much company. 

Treb. There is no fear in him ; let him not die ; 

For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter. 190 

[Clock strikes. 
Bru. Peace! count the clock. 

Cas. The clock hath stricken three. 

Treb. 'Tis time to part. 
Cas, But it is doubtful yet, 

Whether Caesar will come forth to-day, or no; 

For he is superstitious grown of late, 

Quite from the main opinion he held once 195 

Of fantasy, of dreams arid ceremonies. 

It may be, these apparent prodigies, 

The unaccustomed terror of this night, 

And the persuasion of his augurers, 

May hold him from the Capitol to-day. 200 

Dec. Never fear that : if he be so resolv'd, 

I can o'ersway him ; for he loves to hear 

That unicorns may be betray'd with trees, 

186. take thought, become melancholy. 

187. And that were muoh (for him to do, if) he should (do so). 

191. The water-clock (clepsydra) of the Romans did not strike. What 
dramatic purposes does the striking of the clock serve ? 

196. ceremonies, religious rites or the omens deduced from them. 

197. apparent prodigies, " manifest portents " (Rolfe). 

203. betray'd with trees, caught by burying their horns in trees be- 
hind which the hunters have dodged (Steevens). 



62 JULIUS CAESAR. [Actll.Sc.i. 

And bears with glasses, elephants with holes, 

Lions with toils, and men with flatterers; 205 

But when I tell him he hates flatterers, 

He says he does, being then most flattered. 

Let me work ; 

For I can give his humour the true bent, 

And I will bring him to the Capitol. 21& 

Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. 
Bru. By the eighth hour : is that the uttermost ? 
Cin. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then. 
Met. Caius Ligarius doth bear Caesar hard, 

Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey : 215 

I wonder none of you have thought of him. 
Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him : 

He loves me well, and I have given him reasons ; 

Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him. 
Cas. The morning comes upon 's : we'll leave you, Brutus. 220 

And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember 

What you have said, and show yourselves true Ro- 
mans. 
Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily; 

Let not our looks put on our purposes, 

But bear it as our Roman actors do, 225 

With untir'd spirits and formal constancy: 

And so good morrow to you every one. 

[Exeunt all but Brutus. 

Boy! Lucius! Fast asleep? It is no matter; 

Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber : 

Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies, 230 

204. glasses, mirrors, flashed in the hears' eyes, blinding them. 

205. toils, nets. 

226. formal oonstancy, "dignified self-possession" (Wright). Others 
take it to mean merely outward unconcern. 

230. figures . . . fantasies, imaginations, such as haunt Brutus and 
keep him " awake all night" (1. 88). 



Actll.Se.i.] JULIUS CAESAR. 63 

Which busy care draws in the brains of men : 
Therefore thou sleep'st so sound. 

Enter Portia. 

Por. Brutus, my lord ! 

Bru. Portia, what mean you ? wherefore rise you now ? 

It is not for your health thus to commit 235 

Your weak condition to the raw cold morning. 

Por. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, Brutus, 
Stole from my bed : and yesternight, at supper, 
You suddenly arose, and walk'd about, 
Musing and sighing, with your arms across, 240 

And when I ask'd you what the matter was, 
You star'd upon me with ungentle looks; 
I urg'd you further; then you scratched your head, 
And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot; 
Yet I insisted ; yet you answer'd not, 245 

But, with an angry wafture of your hand, 
Gave sign for me to leave you : so I did, 
Fearing to strengthen that impatience 
Which seem'd too much enkindled, and withal 
Hoping it was but an effect of humour, 250 

Which sometime hath his hour with every man. 
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep ; 
And could it work so much upon your shape 
As it hath much prevail' d on your condition, 
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord, 255 

Make me acquainted with your cause of grief. 

Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all. 

Por. Brutus is wise, and, were he not in health, 
He would embrace the means to come by it. 

Bru. Why, so I do. Good Portia, go to bed. 260 

241-9. Note that Brutus is not a "faultily faultless " character. 

250. effect of humour. An allusion, seemingly, to the old belief that 



64 JULIUS CAESAR. [Actll.Sc.i. 

Por. Is Brutus sick ? and is it physical 

To walk unbraced and suck up the humours 

Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick, 

And will he steal out of his wholesome bed, 

To dare the vile contagion of the night 265 

And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air 

To add unto his sickness ? No, my Brutus ; 

You have some sick offence within your mind, 

Which, by the right and virtue of my place, 

I ought to know of : and, upon my knees, 270 

I charm you, by my once commended beauty, 

By all your vows of love and that great vow 

Which did incorporate and make us one, 

That you unfold to me, yourself, your half, 

Why you are heavy, and what men to-night 275 

Have had resort to you : for here have been 

Some six or seven, who did hide their faces 

Even from darkness. 

Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia. 

Por. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus. 

Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, 2so 

Is it excepted I should know no secrets 

That appertain to you? Am I yourself 

But, as it were, in sort or limitation, 

To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, 

And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the 

suburbs 285 

Of your good pleasure? If it be no more, 
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife. 

Bru. You are my true and honourable wife, 

any disturbed condition of mind was due to the predominance of one of 
what were deemed the four chief " humors" (fluids) in the body — blood, 
phlegm, choler, and bile. 

261. physical, medicinal, wholesome. 

271. oharm, conjure. 



Actll.Sci.] JULIUS CAESAR. 65 

As dear to me as are the ruddy drops 

That visit my sad heart. 290 

Tor. If this were true, then should I know this secret. 

I grant I am a woman, but withal 

A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife; 

I grant I am a woman, but withal 

A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter. 295 

Think you I am no stronger than my sex, 

Being so fathered and so husbanded? 

Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em. 

I have made strong proof of my constancy, 

Giving myself a voluntary wound 300 

Here, in the thigh : can I bear that with patience, 

And not my husband's secrets? 
Bru. ye gods, 

Render me worthy of this noble wife ! 

[Knocking within. 

Hark, hark ! one knocks : Portia, go in awhile ; 
And by and by thy bosom shall partake 305 

The secrets of my heart. 
All my engagements I will construe to thee, 
All the charactery of my sad brows: 
Leave me with haste. [Exit Portia. 

Lucius, who's that knocks? 

Re-enter Lucius with Ligarius. 

Luc. Here is a sick man that would speak with you. sio 

Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of. 

Boy, stand aside. Caius Ligarius ! how ? 
Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue. 

305. by and by, very soon ; so always in Shakspere. 
308. all tbe oharaotery of, all the writing on. 
311. Caius Ligarius. Recall lines 214-19. 
5 



66 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. Sc. i. 

Bru. 0, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius, 

To wear a kerchief ! Would you were not sick ! 315 

Lig. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand 

Any exploit worthy the name of honour. 
Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, 

Had you a healthful ear to hear of it. 
Lig. By all the gods that Eomans bow before, 320 

I here discard my sickness ! Soul of Eome ! 

Brave son, deriv'd from honourable loins ! 

Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjur'd up 

My mortified spirit. Now bid me run, 

And I will strive with things impossible; 825 

Yea, get the better of them. What's to do ? 
Bru. A piece of work that will make sick men whole. 
Lig. But are not some whole that we must make sick ? 
Bru. That must we also. What it is, my Caius, 

I shall unfold to thee, as we are going 330 

To whom it must be done. 
Lig. Set on your foot, 

And with a heart new-fir'd I follow you, 

To do I know not what : but it sufficeth 

That Brutus leads me on. 
Bru. Follow me, then. 

[Exeunt. 

315. kerchief, literally a head covering (couvre chef) ; here probably a 
bandage. 

323. an exorcist. In Shakspere, "to exorcise means to raise spirits, 
not to lay them " (Mason). 

324. mortified has here its literal sense — dead. 

331-4. I follow you, To do I know not what. Brutus has not over- 
estimated his ability to " fashion " Ligarius. Note in this long Scene the 
varied aspects in which Brutus appears. We see him before the scenes, 
dealing with scheming politicians, and behind them, with his devoted 
wife and friend. We even, as it were, see him in the intimacy of the 
dressing-room where (lines 10-34) he puts on the mask of conspiracy, whose 
" monstrous visage " he hates. 



Act II. Sc. ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 67 

Scene II. Caesar's house. 

Thunder and lightning. Enter Caesar, in his night- 
gown. 

Caes. Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to-night: 
Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out, 
"Help! ho! they murther Caesar !" Who's within? 

Enter a Servant, 
Serv. My lord? 
Caes. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice 5 

And bring me their opinions of success. 
Serv. I will, my lord. [Exit 

Enter Calpurnia. 

Cal. What mean you, Caesar ? think you to walk forth ? 

You shall not stir out of your house to-day. 
Caes. Caesar shall forth : the things that threatened me 10 

Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see 

The face of Caesar, they are vanished. 
Cal. Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, 

Yet now they fright me. There is one within, 

Besides the things that we have heard and seen, 15 

Eecounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. 

A lioness hath whelped in the streets; 

And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead; 

Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds, 

In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, 20 

Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol ; 

(Stage directions. ) night-gown, dressing-gown. 

5. do present (immediate) sacrifioe. Cf. II. i., 193-6. 

6. success. Probably here : succeeding events ; the future. 

9. You shall not stir. Note throughout this interview its contrast 
with that between Brutus and Portia. 

13. stood on ceremonies, put dependence on omens. 



68 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. Sc. ii. 

The noise of battle hurtled in the air, 

Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan, 

And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets. 

Caesar ! these things are beyond all use, 25 

And I do fear them. 
Caes. What can be avoided 

Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods ? 

Yet Caesar shall go forth; for these predictions 

Are to the world in general as to Caesar. 
Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; 30 

The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of 
princes. 
Caes. Cowards die many times before their deaths; 

The valiant never taste of death but once. 

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, 

It seems to me most strange that men should fear, 35 

Seeing that death, a necessary end, 

Will come when it will come. 

Re-enter Servant. 

What say the augurers? 
Serv. They would not have you to stir forth to-day. 
Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, 
They could not find a heart within the beast. 40 

Caes. The gods do this in shame of cowardice : 
Caesar should be a beast without a heart, 
If he should stay at home to-day for fear. 

24. shriek and squeal. In the description of this same night given in 
Hamlet (Li.) the ghosts are said to "squeak and gibber." Note the 
effectiveness of the imitative words (onomatopes). Why is "yawn'd" 
(1. 18) better than " opened " ? " drizzled " (1. 21) than " dropped " ? By 
what other devices does Shakspere make this unreal scene realistic? 

25. all use, "all we are used to" (Rolfe). 

32-37. Cowards die, etc., one of the few quite sane utterances put in 
Caesar's lips. 

40. Plutarch says it was Caesar who, offering sacrifice, found a beast 
without a heart. 






Act II. Sc. ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 69 

No, Caesar shall not. Danger knows full well 

That Caesar is more dangerous than he: 45 

We are two lions litter'd in one day, 

And I the elder and more terrible: 

And Caesar shall go forth. 
Cal. Alas, my lord, 

Your wisdom is consumed in confidence. 

Do not go forth to-day: call it my fear 50 

That keeps you in the house, and not your own. 

We'll send Mark Antony to the senate-house, 

And he shall say you are not well to-day; 

Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this. 
Caes. Mark Antony shall say I am not well; 55 

And, for thy humour, I will stay at home. 

Enter Decius, 

Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so. 

Dec. Caesar, all hail ! good morrow, worthy Caesar : 
I come to fetch you to the senate-house. 

Caes. And you are come in very happy time, 60 

To bear my greetings to the senators 
And tell them that I will not come to-day : 
Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser: 
I will not come to-day, — tell them so, Decius. 

Cal. Say he is sick. 

Caes. Shall Caesar send a lie ? 65 

Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far, 
To be af eard to tell graybeards the truth ? 
Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come. 

57. Here's Decius Brutus. It was he, not Marcus Brutus, who was 
the intimate friend of Caesar. 

65. Shall Caesar send a lie ? Note (1. 55) that he intended to do so 
had Mark Antony been the messenger. 

67. graybeards, spoken in contempt. Caesar showed slight respect for 
the Senate, who, perhaps, deserved no more. 



70 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. Sc. ii. 

Dec. Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause, 

Lest I be laugh' d at when I tell them so. 70 

Caes. The cause is in my will : I will not come ; 
That is enough to satisfy the senate. 
But for your private satisfaction, 
Because I love you, I will let you know: 
Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home. 75 

She dreamt to-night she saw my statue, 
Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts, 
Did run pure blood ; and many lusty Romans 
Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it : 
And these does she apply for warnings and portents so 
Of evils imminent ; and on her knee 
Hath begg'd that I will stay at home to-day. 

Dec. This dream is all amiss interpreted; 
It was a vision fair and fortunate: 
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, 85 

In which so many smiling Romans bath'd, 
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck 
Reviving blood, and that great men shall press 
For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance. 
This by Calpurnia's dream is signified. 90 

Caes. And this way have you well expounded it. 

Dec. I have, when you have heard what I can say: 
And know it now : the senate have concluded 
To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar. 
If you shall send them word you will not come, 95 

Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock 
Apt to be rendered, for some one to say, 
"Break up the senate till another time, 
When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams." 
If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper, 100 

89. oognizance, a term in heraldry for a badge or other distinguishing 
device. Decius means that it will be considered a distinction to have, as 



ActII.Sc.ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 71 

"Lo, Caesar is afraid" ? 
Pardon me, Caesar; for my dear dear love 
To your proceeding bids me tell you this ; 
And reason to my love is liable. 
Caes. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia ! 105 
I am ashamed I did yield to them. 
Give me my robe, for I will go. 

Enter Publius, Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Casca, 
Trebonius, and Cinna. 

And look where Publius is come to fetch me. 
Pub. Good morrow, Caesar. 
Caes. Welcome, Publius. 

What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too? no 

Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius, 

Caesar was ne'er so much your enemy 

As that same ague which hath made you lean. 

What is't o'clock? 
Bru. Caesar, 'tis strucken eight. 

Caes. I thank you for your pains and courtesy. 115 

Enter Antony. 

See! Antony, that revels long o' nights, 

Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony. 

Ant. So to most noble Caesar. 

Caes. Bid them prepare within : 

I am to blame to be thus waited for. 

a relic, a handkerchief tinctured (dyed) in Caesar's blood, or even one 
stained with it. 

103. your proceeding, your advancement (i. e., to the kingly title and 
power). 

104. reason, prudence. Decius means that prudence would deter him 
from opposing Caesar, but prudence is overcome by (" liable to ") his love. 

116. Antony, that revels long 0' nights. In the next Act Antony lays 
hold of affairs with masterly energy. What dramatic value is there in 
first presenting him as a trifling reveler? 



72 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. Sc. iii. 

Now, Cinna : now, Metellus. What, Trebonius ! 120 

I have an hour's talk in store for you; 

Remember that you call on me to-day : 

Be near me, that I may remember you. 
Treb. Caesar, I will: [4side] and so near will I be, 

That your best friends shall wish I had been further. 125 
Caes. Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me; 

And we, like friends, will straightway go together. 
Bru. [Aside] That every like is not the same, Caesar, 

The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon ! 

[Exeunt. 

Scene III. A street near the Capitol. 

Enter Artemidorus, reading a paper. 

Art. Caesar, beware of Brutus ; take heed of Cassius ; come 
not near Casca ; have an eye to Cinna ; trust not Tre- 
bonius ; mark well Metellus Cimber ; Decius Brutus 
loves thee not ; thou hast wronged Caius Ligarius. 
There is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent 5 
against Caesar. If thou beest not immortal, look about 
you : security gives way to conspiracy. The mighty 
gods defend thee ! Thy lover, 

Artemidorus. 

Here will I stand till Caesar pass along, 

And as a suitor will I give him this. 10 

My heart laments that virtue cannot live 

124-5. Is not this aside rather melodramatic? 

128. every like is not the same. Brutus's meaning is clear if we keep 
in mind Caesar's words : " like friends." 

129. yearns, grieves. Cf. i., 77-81. 

7. security gives way to, carelessness (or over-confidence) opens the 
way to. 

8. lover, friend. Artemidorus, a lecturer on Greek rhetoric. Plu- 
tarch says that "by means of his profession [he] was very familiar with 
certain of Brutus's confederates, and therefore knew the most part of 
all their practices against Caesar." 



Act II. Sc. iv.] JULIUS CAESAR. 73 

Out of the teeth of emulation. 

If thou read this, Caesar, thou mayst live; 

If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive. [Exit. 

Scene IV. Another part of the same street, before the 
house of Brutus. 

Enter Portia and Lucius. 

Por. I prithee, boy, run to the senate-house; 

Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone. — 

Why dost thou stay? 
Luc. To know my errand, madam. 

Por. I would have had thee there, and here again, 

Ere I can tell thee what thou should'st do there. 5 

constancy, be strong upon my side, 

Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue ! 

1 have a man's mind, but a woman's might. 
How hard it is for women to keep counsel ! 
Art thou here yet? 

Luc. Madam, what should I do ? 10 

Run to the Capitol, and nothing else? 

And so return to you, and nothing else? 
Por. Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well, 

For he went sickly forth : and take good note 

What Caesar doth, what suitors press to him. 15 

Hark, boy ! what noise is that ? 

12. emulation, envy. 

Scene iv.— It is evident that Brutus has kept his promise to confide in 
Portia, who is half distracted by the secret. 

12. you. The present Scene gives good occasion to note the former use 
of "you " and " thou." " You " is properly plural. Its use in the singu- 
lar was originally a mark of courtesy to a superior; later, to an equal. The 
use of "thou," like that of the German du, was peculiar. It was used to 
inferiors, as here to Lucius and the Soothsayer, but also to Deity ; to 
those for whom the speaker wished to express contempt, also to intimate 
friends as a mark of affection. 



74 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. Sc. iv. 

Luc. I hear none, madam. 

Por. Prithee, listen well; 

I heard a bustling rumour, like a fray, 
And the wind brings it from the Capitol. 

Luc. Sooth, madam, I hear nothing. 20 

Enter the Soothsayer. 

Por. Come hither, fellow : which way hast thou been ? 

Sooth. At mine own house, good lady. 

Por. What is't o'clock? 

Sooth. About the ninth hour, lady. 

Por. Is Caesar yet gone to the Capitol ? 

Sooth. Madam, not yet : I go to take my stand, 25 

To see him pass on to the Capitol. 

Por. Thou hast some suit to Caesar, hast thou not? 

■Sooth. That I have, lady : if it will please Caesar 
To be so good to Caesar as to hear me, 
I shall beseech him to befriend himself. so 

Por. Why, know'st thou any harm's intended towards 
him? 

Sooth. None that I know will be, much that I fear may 
chance. 
Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow: 
The throng that follows Caesar at the heels, 
Of senators, of praetors, common suitors, 35 

Will crowd a feeble man almost to death: 
I'll get me to a place more void, and there 
Speak to great Caesar as he comes along. [Exit 

Por. I must go in. Ay me, how weak a thing 

The heart of woman is ! Brutus, 40 

The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise! 

17. Prithee, (I) pray thee. 

18. bustling rumour, confused noise. Is the motif of this scene to be 
found in lines 9 and 39, 40 ? Or is the scene intended to impart Portia's 
excitement to the audience, to arouse us to nervous expectancy ? 



Act II. Sc. iv.] JULIUS CAESAR. 75 

[To herself] Sure, the boy heard me: [To Lucius] 

Brutus hath a suit? 
That Caesar will not grant. 0, I grow faint. 
Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord ; 
Say I am merry : come to me again, 
And bring me word what he doth say to thee. 

[Exeunt severally. 



ACT THIRD. 

Scene I. Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate sitting 
within. 

A crowd of people; among them Artemidorus and the 
Soothsayer. Flourish. Enter Caesar; also the 
conspirators, Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Dectus, Me- 
tellus, Trebonius, Cinna ; also Antony, Lepidus, 
Popilius, Publius, and others. 

Caes. [To the Soothsayer.'] The ides of March are come. 

Sooth. Ay, Caesar; but not gone. 

Art. Hail, Caesar ! read this schedule. 

Dec. Trebonius doth desire you to o'er-read, 

At your best leisure, this his humble suit. 6 

Art. Caesar, read mine first; for mine's a suit 

That touches Caesar nearer : read it, great Caesar. 
Caes. What touches us our self shall be last served. 
Art. Delay not, Caesar; read it instantly. 
Caes. What, is the fellow mad ? 

Pub. Sirrah, give place. 20 

Cas. What, urge you your petitions in the street? 

Come to the Capitol. 

[Caesar enters the Capitol, the rest following. 

1-12. In these opening lines Shakspere plays on our feelings with 
subtle mastery. He puts us in the position of helpless spectators who 
watch a man slipping on the edge of an abyss and disdaining the rope 
that is flung to him. 

3. schedule, used of any writing. 

8. What touches us, etc. Plutarch says that Caesar tried to read the 
writing, but was prevented by the pressure of the crowd. Note how 
much Shakspere gains by imputing to Caesar at this moment such lofty 
unconcern for his own welfare. 

12. the Capitol, the magnificent temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline 
76 



Act III. Sc. i.] JULIUS CAESAR. 77 

Pop. I wish your enterprise to-day may thrive. 

Cas. What enterprise, Popilius? 

Pop, Fare you well. 

[Advances to Caesar. 
Bru. What said Popilius Lena? 15 

Cas. He wished to-day our enterprise might thrive. 

I fear our purpose is discovered. 
Bru. Look, how he makes to Caesar : mark him. 
Cas. Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention. 

Brutus, what shall be done? If this be known, 20 

Cassius or Caesar never shall turn back, 

For I will slay myself. 
Bru. Cassius, be constant : 

Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes; 

For, look, he smiles, and Caesar doth not change. 
Cas. Trebonius knows his time; for, look you, Brutus, 25 

He draws Mark Antony out of the way. 

[Exeunt Antony and Trebonius. 
Bee. Where is Metellus Cimber? Let him go, 

And presently prefer his suit to Caesar. 
Bru. He is addressed: press near and second him. 
Cin. Casca, you are the first that rears your hand. 30 

[Caesar takes his seat. 
Caes. Are we all ready? What is now amiss 

That Caesar and his senate must redress? 
Met. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar, 

Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat 

An humble heart, — [Kneeling. 

Caes. I must prevent thee, Cimber. 35 

Hill. The Senate sometimes met there, hut the meeting on this day was 
really in Pompey's Theater. 

22. be constant, be self-contained, calm. Brutus's composure is per- 
fect. 

25-30. Trebonius knows his time, etc. Note the several parts arranged 
for Trebonius, Metellus Cimber, and Casca. 



78 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. i. 

These crouchings and these lowly courtesies 

Might fire the blood of ordinary men, 

xAnd turn pre-ordinance and first decree 

Into the law of children. Be not fond, 

To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood 40 

That will be thaw'd from the true quality 

With that which melteth fools; I mean, sweet words, 

Low-crooked court'sies, and base spaniel-fawning. 

Thy brother by decree is banished : 

If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him, 45 

I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. 

Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause 

Will he be satisfied. 
Met. Is there no voice more worthy than my own, 

To sound more sweetly in great Caesar's ear 50 

For the repealing of my banish'd brother ? 
Bru. I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Caesar, 

Desiring thee that Publius Cimber may 

Have an immediate freedom of repeal. 
Caes. What, Brutus! 

38. pre-ordinance and first decree, "what has been pre-ordained and 
decreed from the beginning. Caesar speaks as if his ordinances and de- 
crees were those of a deity" (Wright). 

39. children, the word is emphatic. Be not fond, To think, be not so 
foolish as to think. 

47, 48. The sense seems to be : Know that Caesar doth not act without 
good cause, nor "without cause" shown to him "will he be satisfied" 
that he should reverse any act (as in the case of Publius Cimber). He 
does not reprove the conspirators for seeking to have him recall Cimber, 
but for trying to do this by flattery, or by what we now call "a pull." 
They have offered " sweet words " and "low-crooked court' sies"; he de- 
mands reasons. 

49. Is there no voice, etc. Even after Caesar demands reasons for the 
recall none are offered. Instead, Metellus asks for a voice " to sound 
more sweetly in great Caesar's ear"; Brutus merely "desires," and 
Cassius merely "begs." There seems to be a deliberate purpose to irritate 
Caesar into taking such an arrogant attitude as he assumes in lines 58-73. 

54. freedom of repeal, "free, unconditional recall " (Craik). 



Act III. Sc. L] JULIUS CAESAR. 79 

Cas. Pardon, Caesar; Caesar, pardon: 55 

As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall, 

To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber. 
Caes. I could be well mov'd, if I were as yon; 

If I could pray to move, prayers would move me : 

But I am constant as the northern star, 80 

Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality 

There is no fellow in the firmament. 

The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks, 

They are all fire and every one doth shine; 

But there's but one in all doth hold his place : 65 

So in the world : 'tis furnish'd well with men, 

And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive; 

Yet in the number I do know but one 

That unassailable holds on his rank, 

Unshak'd of motion : and that I am he, to 

Let me a little show it, even in this ; 

That I was constant Cimber should be banish'd, 

And constant do remain to keep him so. 
Cin. Caesar, — 

Caes. Hence ! wilt thou lift up Olympus ? 

Dec. Great Caesar, — 

Caes. Doth not Brutus bootless kneel ? 75 

Casca. Speak, hands, for me ! 

[Casca stabs Caesar; then so do the other Con- 
spirators, Marcus Brutus last.] 
Caes. Et tu, Brute ! Then fall, Caesar ! [Dies. 

67. apprehensive, "intelligent (in contrast with the stars)" (Al- 
den). 

74. Olympus, the seat and symbol of divine sovereignty. Note this 
ecstasy of arrogance a moment before he falls, "a bleeding piece of 
earth." 

77. Et tu, Brute, and thou, Brutus ! These words had been put into 
Caesar's lips by earlier playwrights. There is no historical authority for 
them, although Suetonius has the even more pathetic cry: "And thou, 

my son ! (ical ov i-expoy)-" 



80 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. i. 

Cin. Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead! 

Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. 
Cas. Some to the common pulpits, and cry out, so 

"Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!" 
Bru. People and senators, be not affrighted; 

Fly not ; stand still : ambition's debt is paid. 
Casca. Go to the pulpit, Brutus. 

Dec. And Cassius too. 85 

Bru. Where's Publius? 

Cin. Here, quite confounded with this mutiny. 
Met. Stand fast together, lest some friend of Caesars 

Should chance — 
Bru. Talk not of standing. Publius, good cheer; 

There is no harm intended to your person, 90 

Nor to no Roman else : so tell them, Publius. 
Cas. And leave us, Publius ; lest that the people, 

Rushing on us, should do your age some mischief. 
Bru. Do so; — and let no man abide this deed, 

But we the doers. 

Re-enter Trebonius. 

Cas. Where is Antony? 95 

Treb. Fled to his house amaz'd; 

Men, wives and children stare, cry out and run 

As it were doomsday. 
Bru. Fates, we will know your pleasures: 

That we shall die, we know ; 'tis but the time 

And drawing days out, that men stand upon. 100 

Cas. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life 

Cuts off so many years of fearing death. 
Bru. Grant that, and then is death a benefit: 

80. pulpits, the rostra in the Forum. 

85. Where's Puhlius ? Brutus's thoughtfulness for this old man is 
characteristic ; so also is his stopping to philosophize, further on (11. 98- 
100). 



Act III. Sc. i.] JULIUS CAESAR. 81 

So are we Caesar's friends, that have abridg'd 

His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop, 105 

And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood 

Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords; 

Then walk we forth, even to the market-place, 

And, waving our red weapons o'er our heads, 

Let's all cry "Peace, freedom and liberty !" 110 

Cas. Stoop, then, and wash. How many ages hence 
Shall this our lofty scene be acted over 
In states unborn and accents yet unknown ! 

Bru. How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport, 

That now on Pompey's basis lies along 115 

No worthier than the dust ! 

Cas. So oft as that shall be, 

So often shall the knot of us be call'd 
The men that gave their country liberty. 

Dec. What, shall we forth? 

Cas. Ay, every man away : 

Brutus shall lead ; and we will grace his heels 120 

With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome. 

Enter a Servant. 

Bru. Soft ! who comes here ? A friend of Antony's. 

Serv. Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel; 
Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down; 
And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say: 125 

Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest; 

113. accents, languages. The English state and tongue are, of course, 
suggested. 

115. Pompey's basis, the base of the statue of Caesar's great antag- 
onist. What is asserted to be this statue was unearthed in Kome in 1553. 
For an account of it see Eolfe's edition of the play, p. 193. 

121. most boldest. For another instance of the use of the double super- 
lative, for emphasis, see III. ii., 179. Shakspere uses also the double com- 
parative, as "more better" and "more braver" (Tempest I. ii., 19, 439). 

126. Brutus is noble, etc. For the sincerity of this see V. v., 68-75, 
and note. Antony chooses the epithets that will most flatter Brutus ; he 
6 



82 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. i. 

Caesar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving; 

Say I love Brutus, and I honour him; 

Say I fear'd Caesar, honour'd him, and lov'd him. 

If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony 130 

May safely come to him, and be resolv'd 

How Caesar hath deserv'd to lie in death, 

Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead 

So well as Brutus living; but will follow 

The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus 135 

Thorough the hazards of this untrod state 

With all true faith. So says my master Antony. 

Bru. Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman; 
I never thought him worse. 

Tell him, so please him come unto this place, 140 

He shall be satisfied; and, by my honour, 
Depart untouch'd. 

Serv. I'll fetch him presently. [Exit. 

Bru. I know that we shall have him well to friend. 

Cas. I wish we may : but yet have I a mind 

That fears him much ; and my misgiving still 145 

Falls shrewdly to the purpose. 

Bru. But here comes Antony. 

Ee-enter Antony. 

Welcome, Mark Antony. 
Ant. mighty Caesar! dost thou lie so low? 

Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, 
Shrunk to this little measure ? Fare thee well. — 150 

I know not, gentlemen, what you intend, 
Who else must be let blood, who else is rank : 

then veils his flattery by praising Caesar also, yet without using the terms 
which most pleased Brutus — "noble" and "honest." 

145. still, always or usually. So generally in Shakspere. 

146. Falls shrewdly to, etc., hits the mark. 

152. rank, too full of blood, therefore needing to be bled. 



Act III. Sc. i.] JULIUS CAESAR. 83 

If I myself, there is no hour so fit 

As Caesar's death hour, nor no instrument 

Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich 155 

With the most noble blood of all this world. 

I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard, 

Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke, 

Fulfil your pleasure. Live a thousand years, 

I shall not find myself so apt to die: 160 

No place will please me so, no mean of death, 

As here by Caesar, and by you cut off, 

The choice and master spirits of this age. 

Bru. Antony, beg not your death of us. 

Though now we must appear bloody and cruel, 165 

As, by our hands and this our present act, 

You see we do, yet see you but our hands 

And this the bleeding business they have done : 

Our hearts you see not ; they are pitiful ; 

And pity to the general wrong of Rome — no 

As fire drives out fire, so pity pity — 

Hath done this deed on Caesar. For your part, 

To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony : 

Our arms no strength of malice; and our hearts, 

Of brothers' temper, do receive you in 175 

With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence. 

Cas. Your voice shall be as strong as any man's 
In the disposing of new dignities. 

Bru. Only be patient till we have appeas'd 

The multitude, beside themselves with fear, iso 

And then we will deliver you the cause 
Why I, that did love Caesar when I struck him, 
Have thus proceeded. 

Ant. I doubt not of your wisdom. 

Let each man render me his bloody hand: 

176-8. With all kind love, etc. Antony's clever acting has won 



84 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. i. 

First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you ; isa 

Next, Caius Cassius, do I take your hand; 

Now, Decius Brutus, yours; now yours, Metellus; 

Yours, Cinna; and, my valiant Casca, yours; 

Though last, not least in love, yours, good Trebonius. 

Gentlemen all, — alas, what shall I say? 190 

My credit now stands on such slippery ground, 

That one of two bad ways you must conceit me, 

Either a coward or a flatterer. — 

That I did love thee, Caesar, 'tis true: 

If then thy spirit look upon us now, 195 

Shall it not grieve thee, dearer than thy death, 

To see thy Antony making his peace, 

Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes, 

Most noble ! in the presence of thy corse ? 

Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds, 200 

Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood, 

It would become me better than to close 

In terms of friendship with thine enemies. 

Pardon me, Julius ! Here wast thou bay'd, brave 

hart; 
Here didst thou fall ; and here thy hunters stand, 205 
Sign'd in thy spoil, and crimson' d in thy lethe. 
world, thou wast the forest to this hart ; 
And this, indeed, world, the heart of thee. 
How like a deer, strucken by many princes, 
Dost thou here lie ! 210 

Brutus's heart. But the shrewder Cassius talks to Antony not of " love " 
and "reverence " but of a share in the spoils of office, political patronage. 

188. my valiant (!) Casca. See V. i., 43, 44. 

206. Sign'd in thy spoil, marked with thy death, alluding to the 
" bloody fingers " (1. 198). lethe, death. There may be intended a com- 
parison of the streaming blood of Caesar with Lethe, " the river of obliv- 
ion." For "lethe" some read "death." 

207-8. hart . . . heart. Puns on these words occur also in Twelfth 
Night and As You Like It. 



Act III. Sc. i.] JULIUS CAESAR. 85 

Cas. Mark Antony, — 

Ant. Pardon me, Caius Cassius: 

The enemies of Caesar shall say this ; 

Then, in a friend, it is cold modesty. 
Cas. I blame you not for praising Caesar so; 

But what compact mean you to have with us ? 215 

Will you be prick' d in number of our friends; 

Or shall we on, and not depend on you ? 
Ant. Therefore I took your hands, but was, indeed, 

Sway'd from the point by looking down on Caesar. 

Friends am I with you all and love you all, 220 

Upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons 

Why and wherein Caesar was dangerous. 
Bru. Or else were this a savage spectacle. 

Our reasons are so full of good regard 

That were you, Antony, the son of Caesar, 225 

You should be satisfied. 
Ant. That's all I seek; 

And am moreover suitor that I may 

Produce his body to the market-place, 

And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, 

Speak in the order of his funeral. 230 

Bru. You shall, Mark Antony. 
Cas. Brutus, a word with you. 

[Aside to Bru.~\ You know not what you do ; do not 
consent 

That Antony speak in his funeral : 

212. shall say this, {. ?., shall say as much as this in praise of Caesar. 

216. prick'd, checked off, as with the point of a stylus, in number, 
the omission of "the " in this phrase, and of " go " in the next line, illus- 
trate Shakspere's condensed style. 

226. That's all I seek. Antony does seek to he "satisfied," but not 
with Brutus's " reasons." The means to his satisfaction is to get the body 
of Caesar, with permission to speak over it. 

231. You shall, Mark Antony. This blunder of Brutus is fatal. 



86 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. i. 

Know you how much the people may be mov'd 

By that which he will utter? 
Bru. By your pardon: 235 

I will myself into the pulpit first, 

And show the reason of our Caesar's death; 

What Antony shall speak, I will protest 

He speaks by leave and by permission, 

And that we are contented Caesar shall 24 ° 

Have all true rites and lawful ceremonies. 

It shall advantage more than do us wrong. 
Cas. I know not what may fall; I like it not. 
Bru. Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar's body. 

You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, 246 

But speak all good you can devise of Caesar, 

And say you do't by our permission; 

Else shall you not have any hand at all 

About his funeral : and you shall speak 

In the same pulpit whereto I am going, 250 

After my speech is ended. 
Ant. Be it so; 

I do desire no more. 
Bru. Prepare the body then, and follow us. 

[Exeunt all but Antony. 
Ant. pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, 

That I am meek and gentle with these butchers ! 255 

Thou art the ruins of the noblest man 

That ever lived in the tide of times. 

Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood ! 

Over thy wounds now do I prophesy, — 

242. It shall advantage. The unworldly Brutus never douhts his 
worldly wisdom. Compare his "practical" reasons for his first great 
blunder, II. i., 176-9. Doubtless his real motives are humanity in the one 
case and generosity in the other. 

255. The mask is off. The "gentlemen," "princes," and "choice and 
master spirits" (11. 151, 163, 209) become "these butchers." 



Actlll.Sci.] JULIUS CAESAR. 87 

Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips 260 

To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue, — 

A curse shall light upon the limbs of mei ; 

Domestic fury and fierce civil strife 

Shall cumber all the parts of Italy ; 

Blood and destruction shall be so in r 265 

And dreadful objects so familiar 

That mothers shall but smile when they behold 

Their infants quartered with the hands of war ; 

All pity chok'd with custom of fell deeds : 

And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, 270 

With Ate by his side come hot from hell, 

Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice 

Cry "Havoc !" and let slip the dogs of war ; 

That this foul deed shall smell above the earth 

With carrion men, groaning for burial. 275 

Enter a Servant. 

You serve Octavius Caesar, do you not? 

Serv. I do, Mark Antony. 

Ant. Caesar did write for him to come to Eome. 

Serv. He did receive his letters, and is coming; 

And bid me say to you by word of mouth — 280 

Caesar ! — [Seeing the hody. 

Ant. Thy heart is big, get thee apart and weep. 
Passion, I see, is catching; for mine eyes, 
Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine, 
Began to water. Is thy master coming? 285 

269. custom of, familiarity with. 

270. Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, is to dominate the remain- 
der of the play. 

271. Ate, in Greek tragedy the goddess of revenge. 

273. Havoo ! Only a monarch or other commander-in-chief could give 
this dread command. It forbade the giving of quarter. 

273. the dogs of war are given in Henry V. as " famine, sword, and 
fire." 



88 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. ii. 

Serv. He lies to-night within seven leagues of Rome. 
Ant. Pos"; back with speed and tell him what hath chanc'd: 

Hert is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome, 

No Ii ne of safety for Octavius yet; 

Hie hi a , and tell him so. Yet, stay awhile; 290 

Thou si e not back till I have borne this corse 

Into the \ ,rket-place : there shall I try, 

In my oration, how the people take 

The cruel issue of these bloody men; 

According to the which, thou shalt discourse 295 

To young Octavius of the state of things. 

Lend me your hand. 

[Exeunt with Caesar's body. 

Scene II. The Forum. 

Enter Brutus and Cassius, and a throng of Citizens. 

Citizens. We will be satisfied ! let us be satisfied ! 

Bru. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends. — 

Cassius, go you into the other street, 

And part the numbers. — 

Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here; 5 

Those that will follow Cassius, go with him; 

And public reasons shall be rendered 

Of Caesar's death. 
First Cit. I will hear Brutus speak. 
Sec. Cit. I will hear Cassius; and compare their reasons, 10 

When severally we hear them rendered. 

[Exit Cassius, with some of the Citizens. 
Brutus goes into the pulpit. 

286. to-night. In reality Octavius did not reach Rome until two 
months later. 

Scene ii. — See pages 143-4. 

1. Note that this unorganized mob imperiously demands to be "satis- 
fied." The imperious days of the Senate are past. 



Act III. Sc. ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 89 

Third Cit. The noble Brutus is ascended : silence ! 

Bru. Be patient till the last. 

Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my 
cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me 15 
for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, 
that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, 
and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. 
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of 
Caesar's, to him I say that Brutus' love to Caesar was 20 
no less than his. If then that friend demand why 
Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not 
that I lov'd Caesar less, but that I lov'd Rome more. 
Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, 
than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men ? As 25 
Caesar lov'd me, I weep for him ; as he was fortunate, 
I rejoice at it ; as he was valiant, I honour him : but, 
as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for 
his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; 
and death for his ambition. Who is here so base 30 
that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him 
have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not 
be a Roman ? If any, speak ; for him have I offended. 
Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If 
any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a 35 
reply. 

All. None, Brutus, none. 

Bru. Then none have I offended. I have done no more 
to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question 
of his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not 40 

12. Brutus is ascended, i. e., into the New Rostra, built by Caesar, at 
the north end of the Forum. 

17. censure, judge. Cf. Latin censeo. 

28. he was ambitious. For this they are to take Brutus's word. 

39. question, reason. 

40. enroll' d, recorded. 



90 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. ii. 

extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences 
enforced, for which he suffered death. 

Enter Antony and others, with Caesar's body. 

Here conies his body, mourn' d by Mark Antony, who, 
though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the 
benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; 45 
as which of you shall not ? With this I depart, — that, 
as I slew my best lover for the good of Eome, I have 
the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my 
country to need my death. 

A 11. Live, Brutus ! live, live ! 

First Cit. Bring him with triumph home unto his house, so 

Sec. Cit. Give him a statue with his ancestors. 

Third Cit. Let him be Caesar. 

Fourth Cit. Caesar's better parts 

Shall be crown'd in Brutus. 

First Cit. We'll bring him to his house 

With shouts and clamours. 

Bru. My countrymen, — 55 

Sec. Cit. Peace, silence ! Brutus speaks. 

First Cit. Peace, ho ! 

Bru. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, 
And, for my sake, stay here with Antony: 
Do grace to Caesar's corpse, and grace his speech 
Tending to Caesar's glories; which Mark Antony, 60 
By our permission, is allowed to make. 

41. extenuated, depreciated. 

42. enforced, magnified. 

53, 54. The variable and impulsive crowd, who have applauded Caesar's 
refusal of the crown, would, apparently, crown Brutus ! Does this awaken 
in Brutus the indignation that the same proposal did in Washington, 
whom Brutus in many respects resembles? 

57. To leave Antony alone with the crowd was Brutus's third tactical 
blunder. 



Act III. Sc. ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 91 

I do entreat you, not a man depart 

Save I alone, till Antony have spoke. [Exit. 

First Cit. Stay, ho ! and let us hear Mark Antony. 
Third Cit. Let him go up into the public chair; 65 

We'll hear him. Noble Antony, go up. 
Ant. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you. 

[Goes into the pulpit. 
Fourth Cit. What does he say of Brutus? 
Third Cit. He says, for Brutus' sake, 

He finds himself beholding to us all. 70 

Fourth Cit. 'Twere best he speak no harin of Brutus here. 
First Cit. This Caesar was a tyrant. 
Third Cit. Nay, that's certain : 

We are blest that Borne is rid of him. 
Sec. Cit. Peace ! let us hear what Antony can say. 
Ant. You gentle Romans, — 

Citizens. Peace, ho ! let us hear him. 75 

Ant. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. 

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him : 

The evil that men do lives after them ; 

The good is oft interred with their bones; 

So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus 80 

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious: 

If it were so, it were a grievous fault, 

And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it. 

67. beholding, beholden, under obligations to. 

71. Note how unfriendly an audience Antony faces, and by what grad- 
ual steps he converts their antipathy to Caesar into passionate sympathy. 

76 ff. Consider the reasons for having Brutus speak in prose, Antony in 
verse. Brutus talks of himself, Antony of Caesar. What effect has this 
upon the form and tone of the speeches ? 

78, 79. Compare the lines in Henry VIII. (IV. iii., 45, 46): "Men's 
evil manners live in brass ; their virtues we write in water." Is the sen- 
timent of these passages true to life ? 

81. Hath told you. Against Brutus's mere assertion Antony opposes 
several facts. 



92 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. ii. 

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest — 

For Brutus is an honourable man; 85 

So are they all, all honourable men — 

Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral. 

He was my friend, faithful and just to me: 

But Brutus says he was ambitious ; 

And Brutus is an honourable man. 90 

He hath brought many captives home to Rome, 

Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill : 

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? 

When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: 

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff : 95 

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ; 

And Brutus is an honourable man. 

You all did see that on the Lupercal 

I thrice presented him a kingly crown, 

Which he did thrice refuse : was this ambition ? ioo 

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; 

And, sure, he is an honourable man. 

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, 

And I must pause till it come back to me. 
First Cit. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings. 105 
Sec. Cit. If thou consider rightly of the matter, 

Caesar has had great wrong. 
Third Cit. Has he, masters ? 

I fear there will a worse come in his place. 
Fourth Cit. Mark'd ye his words ? He would not take the 
crown ; 

Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious. no 

92. general coffers, public treasury. 

93. Did this, etc. Why is it here, as often, better to use a question 
than a declaration ? 

104. I must pause. Few elements of oratory are so effective as a 
rightly timed pause, especially when caused by the effort to suppress 
strong feeling. 






Act III. Sc. ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 93 

First Cit. If it be found so, some will dear abide it. 
Sec. Cit. Poor soul ! his eyes are red as fire with weeping. 
Third Cit. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony. 
Fourth Cit. Now mark him, he begins again to speak. 
Ant. But yesterday the word of Caesar might 115 

Have stood against the world; now lies he there, 

And none so poor to do him reverence. 

masters, if I were disposed to stir 
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, 

1 should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, 120 
Who, you all know, are honourable men: 

I will not do them wrong; I rather choose 
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, 
Than I will wrong such honourable men. 
But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar; 125 

I found it in his closet, 'tis his will: 
Let but the commons hear this testament, — 
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read, — 
And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds 
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood, 130 

Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, 
And, dying, mention it within their wills, 
Bequeathing it as a rich legacy 
Unto their issue. 
Fourth Cit. We'll hear the will : read it, Mark Antony ! 135 
All. The will, the will ! we will hear Caesar's will. 
Ant. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it ; 
It is not meet you know how Caesar lov'd you. 

112. red as fire with weeping". There is no reason to suppose his grief 
to be feigned. It was his " ingrafted love " to Caesar which caused 
Cassius to fear him. 

125. here's a parchment. Historically the will was not made known 
at this time or in this way. What does Antony gain by showing the will 
and hinting at its contents, yet not reading it? 

130. napkins, handkerchiefs. Recall Decius's words, II. ii., 88, 89. 



94 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. ii. 

You are not wood, you are not stones, but men; 

And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar, 140 

It will inflame you, it will make you mad : 

'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs ; 

For, if you should, 0, what would come of it! 

Fourth Cit. Read the will ; we'll hear it, Antony ; 

You shall read us the will, — Caesar's will ! 145 

Ant. Will you be patient? will you stay awhile? 
I have overshot myself to tell you of it : 
I fear I wrong the honourable men 
Whose daggers have stabb'd Caesar; I do fear it. 

Fourth Cit. They were traitors : honourable men ! 150 

All. The will! the testament! 

Sec. Cit. They were villains, murderers : the will ! read the 
will. 

Ant. You will compel me, then, to read the will? 
Then make a ring about the corpse of Caesar, 
And let me show you him that made the will. 155 

Shall I descend ? and will you give me leave ? 

Several Cit. Come down. 

Sec. Cit. Descend. 

Third Cit. You shall have leave. 

[Antony comes down from the pulpit. 

Fourth Cit. A ring; stand round. ieo 

First Cit. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body. 

Sec. Cit. Room for Antony, most noble Antony. 

Ant. Nay, press not so upon me ; stand far off. 

Several Cit. Stand back ; room ; bear back ! 

Ant. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. 165 

You all do know this mantle : I remember 
The first time ever Caesar put it on; 

142, 143. 'lis good, etc., a rather bald trick to disclose what is pre- 
tended to be withheld. 

148. honourable. For the first time, we may suppose, Antony utters 
the word with undisguised irony. He can do so safely, for the Fourth 



Act III. Sc. ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 95 

'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent, 

That day he overcame the Nervii. 

Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through: 170 

See what a rent the envious Casca made: 

Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd; 

And as he pluck'd his cursed steel away, 

Mark how the blood of Caesar follow'd it, 

As rushing out of doors, to be resolved 175 

If Brutus so unkindly knock'd, or no; 

For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel : 

Judge, you gods, how dearly Caesar lov'd him ! 

This was the most unkindest cut of all; 

For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, iso 

Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms, 

Quite vanquish'd him : then burst his mighty heart ; 

And, in his mantle muffling up his face, 

Even at the base of Pompey's statue, 

Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. 186 

0, what a fall was there, my countrymen ! 

Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, 

Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us. 

0, now you weep ; and, I perceive, you feel 

The dint of pity : these are gracious drops. 190 

Kind souls, what, weep you when you but behold 

Our Caesar's vesture wounded? Look you here, 

[Lifting Caesar's mantle. 
Here is himself, marr'd, as you see, with traitors. 

Citizen is ready to echo the word (line 150) with angry scorn. Antony 
has already won his forensic triumph. 

169. overcame the Nervii. The rejoicings in Borne over this were, 
says Plutarch, greater than "for any victory that was ever obtained." 
The Nervii were a fierce tribe in northwest Gaul. 

175, 176. As rushing, etc., as if rushing out of doors to learn if it 
really was Brutus who so unkindly knocked. 

177. angel, guardian angel, second-self ; a term of endearment. 

193. traitors. As he draws aside the mantle, Antony throws aside all 



96 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. ii. 

First Cit. piteous spectacle ! 

Sec. Cit. noble Caesar ! is^ 

Third Cit. wof ul day ! 

Fourth Cit. traitors, villains ! 

First Cit. most bloody sight ! 

Sec. Cit. We will be revenged. 

All. Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay ! 200 
Let not a traitor live ! 

Ant. Stay, countrymen. 

First Cit. Peace there ! hear the noble Antony. 

Sec. Cit. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die with 
him! 

Ant. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up 
To such a sudden flood of mutiny. 205 

They that have done this deed are honourable: 
What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, 
That made them do it : they are wise and honourable, 
And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. 
I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts : 210 

I am no orator, as Brutus is, 
But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, 
That love my friend; and that they know full well 
That gave me public leave to speak of him. 
For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, 215 

Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, 
To stir men's blood : I only speak right on ; 
I tell you that which you yourselves do know; 
Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor, poor, dumb 
mouths, 

reserve also. Note the climax : first, Caesar's will ; then, his mantle ; 
then, his mangled body. 

204-9. Note the changed tone of Antony's words. Is he for the mo- 
ment awed by the frenzy he has aroused ? Does his better nature shrink 
from the horrors of what the maddened mob may do? 

207. private griefs, personal grievances. 






Act III. Sc. ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 97 

And bid them speak for me: but were I Brutus, 220 
And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony 
Would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue 
In every wound of Caesar that should move 
The stones of Borne to rise and mutiny. 

All. We'll mutiny. 225 

First Cit. We'll burn the house of Brutus. 

Third Cit. Away, then! come, seek the conspirators. 

Ant. Yet hear me, countrymen; yet hear me speak. 

All. Peace, ho ! Hear Antony. Most noble Antony ! 

Ant. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what: 230 

Wherein hath Caesar thus deserv'd your loves? 
Alas, you know not : I must tell you, then : 
You have forgot the will I told you of. 

All. Most true. The will ! Let's stay and hear the will. 

Ant. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal. 235 

To every Boman citizen he gives, 
To every several man, seventy-five drachmas. 

Sec. Cit. Most noble Caesar! We'll revenge his death. 

Third Cit. royal Caesar ! 

Ant. Hear me with patience. 240 

A II. Peace, ho ! 

Ant. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks, 

His private arbours, and new-planted orchards, 

On this side Tiber : he hath left them you, 

And to your heirs forever, common pleasures, 245 

To walk abroad, and recreate yourselves. 

Here was a Caesar ! when comes such another? 

First Cit. Never, never. Come, away, away! 
We'll burn his body in the holy place, 
And with the brands fire the traitors' houses. 250 

Take up the body. 

237. seventy-five drachmas, about $ 100. 

245. common pleasures, public pleasure-grounds. 

7 



98 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. iii. 

Sec. Cit. Go fetch fire. 

Third Cit. Pluck down benches. 

Fourth Cit. Pluck down forms, windows, any thing. 

[Exeunt Citizens, with the body. 
Ant. Xow let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot, 255 

Take thou what course thou wilt ! 

Enter a Servant. 

How now, fellow ! 
Serv. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome. 
Ant. Where is he? 

Serv. He and Lepidus are at Caesar's house. 
Ant. And thither will I straight to visit him. 260 

He comes upon a wish. Fortune is merry, 

And in this mood will give us any thing. 
Serv. I heard him say, Brutus and Cassius 

Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome. 
Ant. Belike they had some notice of the people, 265 

How I had mov'd them. Bring me to Octavius. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene III. A street. 
Enter Cinna the poet. 

Cin. I dreamt to-night that I did feast with Caesar, 
And things unluckily charge my fantasy: 
I have no will to wander forth of doors, 
Yet something leads me forth. 

257. Octavius, the grand-nephew and heir of Caesar, was hut nineteen 
years old ; hut, on his arrival at Eome, he soon showed that " in cool 
cunning he outmatched even the political veterans at the capitol " (Bots- 
ford). 

Scene iii. — The dream of Cinna and the attack by the mob, who mis- 
took the poet Cinna for the conspirator of that name, are given by Plu- 
tarch. 

2. unluckily, unlucky, portentous; adverb for adjective. In Shak- 



Act III. Sc. iii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 99 

Enter Citizens. 

First Cit. What is your name? 5 

Sec. Cit. Whither are you going? 

Third Cit. Where do you dwell? 

Fourth Cit. Are you a married man or a bachelor? 

Sec. Cit. Answer every man directly. 

First Cit. Ay, and briefly. 10 

Fourth Cit. Ay, and wisely. 

Third Cit. Ay, and truly, you were best. 

Cin. What is my name ? Whither am I going ? Where do 
I dwell ? Am I a married man or a bachelor ? Then, 
to answer every man directly and briefly, wisely and 15 
truly : wisely I say, I am a bachelor. 

Sec. Cit. That's as much as to say, they are fools that 
marry: you'll bear me a bang for that, I fear. Pro- 
ceed; directly. 

Cin. Directly, I am going to Caesar's funeral. 20 

First Cit. As a friend or an enemy ? 

Cin. As a friend. 

Sec. Cit. That matter is answered directly. 

Fourth Cit. For your dwelling, — briefly. 

Cin. Briefly, I dwell by the Capitol. 25 

Third Cit. Your name, sir, truly. 

Cin. Truly, my name is Cinna. 

First Cit. Tear him to pieces ! he's a conspirator. 

Cin. I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet. 

spere, "almost any part of speech can be used as any other part " (Abbott). 
Cf. " path " as a verb (II. i., 83), and " like " as a noun (II. ii., 128). 

18. bear me a bang, get from me a blow. Is this Scene to be taken 
quite seriously? Do not the absurd question of the Fourth Citizen (1. 8), 
the bewilderment of Cinna, the grim jokes of lines 17-19 and 30, taken 
with the omission to indicate that any injury was really done the poet 
(who, according to Plutarch, was killed), lend a half-farcical air to the 
scene? May it not be intended rather to relieve our excited feelings than 
further to excite them ? L. of C. 



100 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. Sc. iii. 

Fourth Cit. Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for his 

bad verses ! 
Cin. I am not Cinna the conspirator. 
Fourth Cit. It is no matter, his name's Cinna ; pluck but 
his name out of his heart, and turn him going. 
Third Cit. Tear him, tear him ! Come, brands, ho ! fire- 
brands: to Brutus', to Cassius'; burn all: some to 
Decius' house, and some to Casca's; some to Ligari- 
us': away, go! [Exeunt. 









ACT FOUKTH. 

Scene I. A house in Rome. 

Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, seated at a table. 

Ant. These many, then, shall die ; their names are prick'd. 

Oct. Your brother too must die; consent you, Lepidus? 

Lep. I do consent, — 

Oct. Prick him down, Antony. 

Lep. Upon condition Publius shall not live, 

Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony. 5 

Ant. He shall not live ; look, with a spot I damn him. 

But, Lepidus, go you to Caesar's house; 

Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine 

How to cut off some charge in legacies. 
Lep. What, shall I find you here ? 10 

Oct. Or here, or at the Capitol. [Exit Lepidus. 

Ant. This is a slight, unmeritable man, 

Meet to be sent on errands : is it fit, 

The three-fold world divided, he should stand 

One of the three to share it? 

Scene i. — Shakspere has passed over the confused strife of factions 
which followed Caesar's death and which issued in the formation of the 
Second Triumvirate. The Triumvirs are preparing a list for a proscrip- 
tion. Each desires to include all his enemies, among whom are some 
friends, and even kinsmen, of the others. The light-hearted way in 
which they " damn ' friend and foe is evidence that their pity is " chok'd 
with custom of fell deeds." The meeting really occurred on an island in 
the river Rhenus, in northern Italy, eighteen months after Caesar's 
death. 

6. damn, condemn. The word is so used in the common version of 
the New Testament. 

12. slight, insignificant, unmeritable, devoid of merit. 

14. three-fold world, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Asia was now held by 
the armies of Brutus and Cassius. 

101 



102 JULIUS CAESAR. [ActlV.Sc.i. 

Oct. So you thought him ; 15 

And took his voice who should be prick'd to die, 
In our black sentence and proscription. 

Ant. Octavius, I have seen more days than you : 

And though we lay these honours on this man, 

To ease ourselves of divers sland'rous loads, 20 

He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold, 

To groan and sweat under the business, 

Either led or driven, as we point the way; 

And having brought our treasure where we will, 

Then take we down his load, and turn him off, 25 

Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears, 

And graze in commons. 

Oct. You may do your will; 

But he's a tried and valiant soldier. 

Ant. So is my horse, Octavius; and for that 

I do appoint him store of provender: 30 

It is a creature that I teach to fight, 

To wind, to stop, to run directly on, 

His corporal motion governed by my spirit. 

And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so ; 

He must be taught and train' d and bid go forth ; 35 

A barren-spirited fellow ; one that feeds 

On abjects, orts, and imitations, 

Which, out of use and staled by other men, 

Begin his fashion : do not talk of him, 

But as a property. And now, Octavius, 40 

Listen great things: — Brutus and Cassius 

18. Antony was forty years old ; Octavius, twenty. 
29-33. Is a "valiant soldier " but a well-trained animal ? 
32. to wind, wheel about. 
34. in some taste, in a sense. 

37. abjects, cast-off things, orts, scraps. 

38, 39. A mere imitator, Lepidus takes up things after they have grown 
stale to others. 



Act IV. Sc. ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 103 

Are levying powers : we must straight make head : 
Therefore let our alliance be combin'd, 
Our best friends made, our best means stretched out; 
And let us presently go sit in council, 45 

How covert matters may be best disclos'd, 
And open perils surest answered. 
Oct. Let us do so : for we are at the stake, 
And bay'd about with many enemies ; 
And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, 50 

Millions of mischiefs. [Exeunt. 



Scene II. Camp near Sardis. Before Brutus's tent. 

Drum. Enter Brutus, Titinius, Lucius, and Soldiers; 
Lucilius and Pindarus meeting them. 

Bru. Stand, ho! 

Lucil. Give the word, ho ! and stand. 

Bru. What now, Lucilius ! is Cassius near ? 

Lucil. He is at hand; and Pindarus is come 
To do you salutation from his master. 

Bru. He greets me well. Your master, Pindarus, 
In his own change, or by ill officers, 
Hath given me some worthy cause to wish 

48. at the stake, an allusion to bear-baiting, a popular Elizabethan 
sport; a bear tied to a stake was "bay'd about" by dogs, with which it 
fought. There are conspirators against the Triumvirs, as there were 
against Caesar. These they fear to leave behind them, hence the con- 
scription. 

Scene ii.— This Scene involves a great violation of the two cardinal 
" unities "—that of time and that of place. Sardis is in Lydia, in Asia 
Minor. The scene opens with the return of an officer, Lucilius, whom 
Brutus sent to Cassius. With Lucilius comes Pindarus, a servant of 
Cassius. It is important to keep the relations of Lucilius and Pindarus 
in mind. 

7. In his change, etc., because of some change in himself, or because 
of ill-doings of his officers. 



104 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act IV. Sc. ii. 

Things done, undone ; but, if he be at hand, 
I shall be satisfied. 

Pin. I do not doubt 10 

But that my noble master will appear 
Such as he is, full of regard and honour. 

Bru. He is not doubted. A word, Lucilius, 
How he received you, let me be resolved. 

Lucil. With courtesy and with respect enough; 15 

But not with such familiar instances 
Xor with such free and friendly conference 
As he hath used of old. 

Bru. Thou hast described 

A hot friend cooling: ever note, Lucilius, 
When love begins to sicken and decay, 20 

It useth an enforced ceremony. 
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith; 
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, 
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle : 
But when they should endure the bloody spur, 25 

They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades, 
Sink in the trial. Comes his army on ? 

Lucil. They mean this night in Sardis to be quarter'd; 
The greater part, the horse in general, 
Are come with Cassius. [Low march within. 

Bru. Hark ! he is arriv'd. so 

March gently on to meet him. 

Enter Cassius and his powers. 

Cas. Stand, ho ! 

13. he is not doubted. Why this insincerity? 
16. familiar instances, familiar ways, or proofs of intimate regard. 
21. enforced ceremony, " forced " politeness. 

23. at hand, when held by the hand, under the rein. When put to 
the test under the spur (1. 25) they prove worthless. 
26. jades, worthless horses. 
29. the horse, the cavalry. 



Act IV. Sc. ii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 105 

Bru. Stand, ho ! Speak the word along. 

First Sol Stand ! 

Sec. Sol Stand ! 35 

Third Sol Stand! 

Cas. Most noble brother, you have done me wrong. 

Bru. Judge me, you gods ! Wrong I mine enemies ? 

And, if not so, how should I wrong a brother? 
Cas. Brutus, this sober form of yours hides wrongs; 40 

And when you do them — 
Bru. Cassius, be content ; 

Speak your griefs softly : I do know you well. 

Before the eyes of both our armies here, 

Which should perceive nothing but love from us, 

Let us not wrangle : bid them move away ; 45 

Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs, 

And I will give you audience. 
Cas. Pindarus, 

Bid our commanders lead their charges off 

A little from this ground. 
Bru. Lucilius, do you the like; and let no man 50 

Come to our tent till we have done our conference. 

Let Lucius and Titinius guard our door. [Exeunt. 

41. be content, "contain (or restrain) yourself" (Rolfe). Brutus 
wishes to avoid " a scene." 

46. enlarge your griefs, relate fully your grievances. 



106 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act IV. Sc. iii. 

Scene III. Brutus's tent. 
Enter Brutus and Cassius. 

Cas. That you have wrongM me doth appear in this: 

You have condemn'd and noted Lucius Pella 

For taking bribes here of the Sardians; 

Wherein my letters, praying on his side 

Because I knew the man, were slighted off. 5 

Bru. You wrong'd yourself to write in such a case. 
Cas. In such a time as this it is not meet 

That every nice offence should bear his comment. 
Bru. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself 

Are much condemn'd to have an itching palm; 10 

To sell and mart your offices for gold 

To undeservers. 
Cas. I an itching palm ! 

You know that you are Brutus that speaks this, 

Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last. 
Bru. The name of Cassius honours this corruption, 15 

And chastisement doth therefore hide his head. 
Cas. Chastisement! 
Bru. Remember March, the ides of March remember: 

Scene iii. — This scene in the tent is, dramatically, the most effective in 
the play. It sweeps almost every chord of human passion. Nearly every 
incident is at least suggested by Plutarch. Yet he does not more than 
furnish the warp with which Shakspere interweaves the threads of his 
own fancy, producing two masterly character portraits. Coleridge says : 
" I know no part of Shakespeare that more impresses on me the belief of 
his genius being superhuman than this scene between Brutus and Cas- 
sius." 

2. noted, openly disgraced ; a technical legal term. 

8. nioe, slight, his, its; see note on I. ii., 124. 

10. condemn'd to have, accused of having, itching, i. «., for gold. 

11. mart, market, i. e., sell openly. 

15. honours, the word may be taken in its usual sense, though spoken 
in bitter irony. 



Act IV. Sc. iii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 107 

Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? 

What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, 20 

And not for justice? What, shall one of us, 

That struck the foremost man of all this world 

But for supporting robbers, shall we now 

Contaminate our fingers with base bribes, 

And sell the mighty space of our large honours 25 

For so much trash as may be grasped thus ? 

I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, 

Than such a Eoman. 
Cas. Brutus, bay not me; 

I'll not endure it : you forget yourself, 

To hedge me in ; I am a soldier, I, 80 

Older in practice, abler than yourself 

To make conditions. 
Bru. Go to ; you are not, Cassius. 

Cas. I am. 

Bru. I say you are not. 
Cas. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself ; 35 

Have mind upon your health, tempt me no farther. 
Bru. Away, slight man ! 
Cas. Is't possible? 
Bru. Hear me, for I will speak. 

Must I give way and room to your rash choler? 

Shall I be frighted when a madman stares ? 40 

Cas. ye gods, ye gods ! must I endure all this ? 

20. Does Brutus imply that some of the conspirators were villains, yet 
that even they stabbed " for justice' sake" ? 

23. Compare the reason here given for the killing of Caesar with 
that which Brutus gave to himself (II. i., 10-28) and to the people (III. 
ii., 28). 

25, 26. Their large honours are compared to a great estate, and con- 
trasted with a handful of gold. 

32. To make conditions, i. e., to decide upon what terms offices should 
be conferred (Craik). See line 11. 

39. choler, hot temper. See note on II. i., 250. 



108 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act IV. Sc. iii. 

Bru. All this ! ay, more : fret till your proud heart break ; 

Go show your slaves how choleric you are, 

And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge? 

Must I observe you ? must I stand and crouch 45 

Under your testy humour ? By the gods, 

You shall digest the venom of your spleen, 

Though it do split you; for, from this day forth, 

I'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter, 

When you are waspish. 
Cas. Is it come to this? bo 

Bru. You say you are a better soldier: 

Let it appear so ; make your vaunting true, 

And it shall please me well : for mine own part, 

I shall be glad to learn of noble men. 
Cas. You wrong me every way; you wrong me, Brutus; 55 

I said, an elder soldier, not a better: 

Did I say "better"? 
Bru. If you did, I care not. 

Cas. When Caesar liv'd, he durst not thus have mov'd me. 
Bru. Peace, peace ! you durst not so have tempted him. 
Cas. I durst not ? 60 

Bru. No. 

Cas. What, durst not tempt him? 
Bru. For your life you durst not. 

Cas. Do not presume too much upon my love; 

I may do that I shall be sorry for. 65 

Bru. You have done that you should be sorry for. 

There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, 

For I am arm'd so strong in honesty 

That they pass by me as the idle wind, 

Which I respect not. I did send to you 70 

42. fret till, etc. It should be remembered that Brutus's own heart is 
breaking (lines 144-7). 

70-76. Brutus's willingness to use money got "by vile means" seems 
a bald inconsistency. Is it in any way defensible? 



Act IV. Sc. iii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 109 

For certain sums of gold, which you denied me ; — 

For I can raise no money by vile means : 

By heaven, I had rather coin my heart, 

And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring 

From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash 75 

By any indirection; — I did send 

To you for gold to pay my legions, 

Which you denied me: was that done like Cas- 

sius ? 
Should I have answer' d Caius Cassius so ? 
When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, 80 

To lock such rascal counters from his friends, 
Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts; 
Dash him to pieces ! 

Cas. I denied you not. 

Bru. You did. 

Cas. I did not : he was but a fool that brought 85 

My answer back. — Brutus hath riv'd my heart: 
A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, 
But Brutus makes mine greater than they are. 

Bru. I do not, till you practise them on me. 

Cas. You love me not. 

Bru. I do not like your faults. 90 

Cas. A friendly eye could never see such faults. 

Bru. A flatterer's would not, though they do appear 
As huge as high Olympus. 

Cas. Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come, 

Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius ! 95 

For Cassius is aweary of the world: 

Hated by one he loves ; brav'd by his brother ; 

Check'd like a bondman ; all his faults observ'd, 

Set in a note-book, learn'd, and conn'd by rote, 

76. any indirection, any oronkodness. 

81. rasoal, worthless, counters, metal disks used in counting. 



110 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act IV. Sc. iii. 

To cast into my teeth. 0, I could weep 100 

My spirit from mine eyes ! There is my dagger, 

And here my naked breast ; within, a heart 

Dearer than Plutus' mine, richer than gold: 

If that thou be'st a Roman, take it forth; 

I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart: 105 

Strike, as thou didst at Caesar ; for, I know, 

When thou didst hate him worst, thou lov'dst him 

better 
Than ever thou lovedst Cassius. 

Bru. Sheathe your dagger : 

Be angry when you will, it shall have scope ; 
Do what you will, dishonour shall be humour. 110 

Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb 
That carries anger as the flint bears fire; 
Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark, 
And straight is cold again. 

Cas. Hath Cassius liv'd 

To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus, 115 

When grief and blood ill-temper'd vexeth him ? 

Bru. When I spoke that, I was ill-temper'd too. 

Cas. Do you confess so much? Give me your hand. 

Bru. And my heart too. 

Cas. Brutus! 

Bru. What's the matter ? 

Cas. Have not you love enough to bear with me, 12c 

When that rash humour which my mother gave 

me 
Makes me forgetful? 

103. Plutus, the god of riches. 

110. shall he (attributed to) humour. On the doctrine of "the 
humours" see note on II. i., 250. Note other allusions in lines 116, 117 
and 121 of this scene. 

111. Who or what is the lamb? Brutus? or Cassius's own gentler 
nature ? Whose anger is most like "a hasty spark " ? 



Act IV. Sc. iii.] JULIUS CAESAR. HI 

Bru. Yes, Cassius; and, from henceforth, 

When you are over-earnest with your Brutus, 
He'll think your mother chides, and leave you so. 

Poet. [Within.'] Let me go in to see the generals; 125 

There is some grudge between 'em, 'tis not meet 
They be alone. 

Lucil. [Within.] You shall not come to them. 

Poet. [Within.] Nothing but death shall stay me. 

Enter Poet, followed by Lucilius, Titinius, and Lucius. 

Cas. How now! what's the matter? 

Poet For shame, you generals ! what do you mean ? 130 

Love, and be friends, as two such men should be; 

For I have seen more years, I'm sure, than ye. 
Cas. Ha, ha ! how vilely doth this cynic rhyme ! 
Bru. Get you hence, sirrah; saucy fellow, hence! 
Cas. Bear with him, Brutus; 'tis his fashion. 135 

Bru. I'll know his humour, when he knows his time: 

What should the wars do with these jigging fools? 

Companion, hence ! 
Cas. Away, away, be gone ! 

[Exit Poet. 
Bru. Lucilius and Titinius, bid the commanders 

Prepare to lodge their companies to-night. 140 

125-138. Does not the absurd incident of the Poet's intrusion fitly con- 
clude the scene, in which we see what fools even great mortals may 1>e — 
as in Homer the immortals are— when they lose their tempers? They 
quarrel much as schoolboys do, and make up in the same charmingly in- 
consequent manner. We have at least a view of the very human side of 
Brutus. 

131, 132. love, and be friends, etc., a loose rendering of Nestor's words, 
in the Iliad, to the quarreling leaders. 

133. The mercurial Cassius passes easily from tears to laughter; 
Brutus, true to his type, has little sense of humor, cynic. Plutarch says 
the poet was a sham philosopher of the Cynic school. 

137. jigging, rhyming. 

138. Companion, fellow, used in contempt. 



112 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act IV. Sc. iii. 

Cas. And come yourselves, and bring Messala with you 
Immediately to us. 

[Exeunt Lucilius and Titinius. 

Bru. Lucius, a bowl of wine ! 

[Exit Lucius. 

Cas. I did not think you could have been so angry. 

Bru. Cassius, I am sick of many griefs. 

Cas. Of your philosophy you make no use, 145 

If you give place to accidental evils. 

Bru. No man bears sorrow better. — Portia is dead. 

Cas. Ha! Portia! 

Bru. She is dead. 

Cas. How 'scaped I killing when I cross'd you so? 15c 

insupportable and touching loss ! 
Upon what sickness? 

Bru. Impatient of my absence, 

And grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony 
Have made themselves so strong : — for with her death 
That tidings came: — with this she fell distract, 355 

And, her attendants absent, swallow' d fire. 

Cas. And died so ? 

Bru. Even so. 

Cas. ye immortal gods ! 

Re-enter Lucius, with wine and taper. 

Bru. Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of wine. 

In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius. [Drinks. 

Cas. My heart is thirsty for that noble pledge. igo 

145. your philosophy. Brutus was of the Stoic school, which taught 
that the wise mau will suppress all strong feeling, pleasant or painful ; 
especially that he will meet " accidental evils " with equanimity. Cassius 
attributes Brutus's "ill temper" (1. 117) to worry over the natural vicis- 
situdes of war. 

156. swallow'd fire. Plutarch says she "choked herself" with the 
fumes of the charcoal. 



Act IV. Sc. iii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 113 

Fill, Lucius, till the wine o'erswell the cup; 
I cannot drink too much of Brutus' love. [Drinks. 
Bru. Come in, Titinius ! [Exit Lucius. 

Re-enter Titinius, with Messala. 

Welcome, good Messala. 

Now sit we close about this taper here, ips 

And call in question our necessities. 
Cas. Portia, art thou gone? 
Bru. [Aside to Cassius.] No more, I pray you. 

Messala, I have here received letters, 

That young Octavius and Mark Antony no 

Come down upon us with a mighty power, 

Bending their expedition toward Philippi. 
Mes. Myself have letters of the self-same tenour. 
Bru. With what addition? 
Mes. That by proscription and bills of outlawry, 175 

Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus 

Have put to death an hundred senators. 
Bru. Therein our letters do not well agree; 

Mine speak of seventy senators that died 

By their proscriptions, Cicero being one. 180 

Cas. Cicero one! 
Mes. Cicero is dead, 

And by that order of proscription. 

Had you your letters from your wife, my lord ? 
Bru. No, Messala. 

Mes. Nor nothing in your letters writ of her? 185 

Bru. Nothing, Messala. 

Mes. That, methinks, is strange. 

Bru. Why ask } r ou? hear you aught of her in yours? 
Mes. No, my lord. 

166. oall in question, discuss. 

186. Nothing, Messala. This might, of course, be true. 
8 



114 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act IV. Sc. iii. 

Bru. Now, as you are a Roman, tell me true. 

Mes. Then like a Roman bear the truth I tell: 190 

For certain she is dead, and by strange manner. 
Bru. Why, farewell, Portia. We must die, Messala: 

With meditating that she must die once, 

I have the patience to endure it now. 
Mes. Even so great men great losses should endure. 195 

Cas. I have as much of this in art as you, 

But yet my nature could not bear it so. 
Bru. Well, to our work alive. What do you think 

Of marching to Philippi presently? 
Cas. I do not think it good. 
Bru. Your reason? 

Cas. Thi6 it is : 200 

'Tis better that the enemy seek us : 

So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, 

Doing himself offence; whilst we, lying still, 

Are full of rest, defence, and nimbleness. 
Bru. Good reasons must, of force, give place to better. 205 

The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground 

Do stand but in a forc'd affection; 

For they have grudg'd us contribution: 

The enemy, marching along by them, 

By them shall make a fuller number up, 210 

Come on refreshed, new-added, and encourag'd; 

From which advantage shall we cut him off, 

If at Philippi we do face him there, 

These people at our back. 

193. once, sometime. 
196. in art, in theory. 

198. our work alive, work for those who are living (as opposed to 
grieving for the dead) ; or the work awaiting us, the living. 

199. presently, immediately. So always in Shakspere. 
203. offence, injury. 

205. of force, perforce, necessarily. 



Act IV. Sc. iii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 115 

Cas. Hear me, good brother. 

Bru. Under your pardon. You must note beside, 215 

That we have tried the utmost of our friends, 

Our legions are brim-full, our cause is ripe; 

The enemy increaseth every day : 

We, at the height, are ready to decline. 

There is a tide in the affairs of men, 220 

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune : 

Omitted, all the voyage of their life 

Is bound in shallows and in miseries. 

On such a full sea are we now afloat; 

And we must take the current when it serves, 225 

Or lose our ventures. 
Cas. Then, with your will, go on ; 

We'll along ourselves, and meet them at Philippi. 
Bru. The deep of night is crept upon our talk, 

And nature must obey necessity; 

Which we will niggard with a little rest. 230 

There is no more to say? 
Cas. No more. Good night: 

Early to-morrow will we rise, and hence. 
Bru. Lucius! [Enter Lucius.] My gown. [Exit Lu- 
cius.] Farewell, good Messala: 

Good night, Titinius. Noble, noble Cassius, 

Good night, and good repose. 
Cas. my dear brother! 235 

This was an ill beginning of the night : 

215. Under your pardon, as we say "I beg your pardon," when po- 
litely refusing to be interrupted. 

220-6. There is a tide, etc. The figure is clear if we imagine a vessel 
in a shallow harbor which is shut in by a bar that can be crossed only at 
flood-tide, the "full sea" of the text. 

226-7. As usual, Cassius accepts Brutus's "will," though not his judg- 
ment. 

334-240. Note the warmth of their parting. "Only the brave know 
how to forgive." 



116 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act IV. Sc. iii. 

Never come such division 'tween our souls ! 

Let it not, Brutus. 
Bru. Every thing is well. 

Cas. Good night, my lord. 

Bru. Good night, good brother. 

Tit. Mes. Good night, Lord Brutus. 

Bru. Farewell, every one. 240 

[Exeunt all but Brutus. 

Re-enter Lucius, with the gown. 

Give me the gown. Where is thy instrument? 
Luc. Here in the tent. 
Bru. What, thou speak'st drowsily? 

Poor knave, I blame thee not ; thou art o'erwatched. 

Call Claudius and some other of my men; 

I'll have them sleep on cushions in my tent. 245 

Luc. Varro and Claudius ! 

Enter Varro and Claudius. 

Var. Calls my lord ? 

Bru. I pray you, sirs, lie in my tent and sleep ; 

It may be I shall raise you by and by 

On business to my brother Cassius. 250 

Var. So please you, we will stand and watch your pleasure. 
Bru. I will not have it so: lie down, good sirs; 

It may be I shall otherwise bethink me. 

Look, Lucius, here's the book I sought for so ; , 

I put it in the pocket of my gown. 255 

[Varro and Claudius lie down. 
Luc. I was sure your lordship did not give it me. 
Bru. Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful. 

243. knave, boy. Cf. Ger. Knabe. 

257. Bear with me. Brutus has evidently charged Lucius with mis- 
placing the book. He begs the boy's pardon. The almost womanly 
sympathy shown to the tired boy becomes very touching when we con- 
sider the " many griefs" with which his own heart is sick. 



Act IV. Sc. iii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 117 

Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes awhile, 
And touch thy instrument a strain or two ? 

Luc. Ay, my lord, an't please you. 

Bru. It does, my boy : 260 

I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing. 

Luc. It is my duty, sir. 

Bru. I should not urge thy duty past thy might; 
I know young bloods look for a time of rest. 

Luc. I have slept, my lord, already. 265 

Bru. It was well done; and thou shalt sleep again; 
I will not hold thee long : if I do live, 
I will be good to thee. 

[Music, and a song. 
This is a sleepy tune. murd'rous slumber, 
Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy, 270 

That plays thee music? Gentle knave, good night; 
I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee : 
If thou dost nod, thou break' st thy instrument ; 
I'll take it from thee ; and, good boy, good night. 
Let me see, let me see ; is not the leaf turn'd down 275 
Where I left reading? Here it is, I think. 

Enter the Ghost of Caesar. 

How ill this taper burns ! Ha ! who comes here ? 

I think it is the weakness of mine eyes 

That shapes this monstrous apparition. 

It comes upon me. Art thou any thing? 280 

Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, 

267. I will not hold thee, i. e., as a slave. 

270. Lay'st thou thy leaden mace. The figure is taken from the old 
custom of touching a man with the mace in token of arrest. Why 
"leaden " ? 

277. How ill this taper burns. It was an old belief that at the ap- 
proach of a spirit the lights burned blue. 

281. Art thou some god, etc. Apparently, at this first appearance of 
the ghost, Brutus does not recognize it as Caesar's, though he does so at 



118 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act IV. Sc. iii. 

That mak'st my blood cold and my hair to stare ? 

Speak to me what thou art. 
Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus. 

Bru. Why com'st thou? 

Ghost. To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi. 285 

Bru. Well ; then I shall see thee again ? 
Ghost. Ay, at Philippi. 
Bru. Why, I will see thee at Philippi, then. 

[Exit Ghost. 

Now I have taken heart thou vanishest : 

111 spirit, I would hold more talk with thee. 290 

Boy, Lucius! Varro! Claudius! Sirs, awake! 

Claudius ! 
Luc. The strings, my lord, are false. 
Bru. He thinks he still is at his instrument. 

Lucius, awake ! 295 

Luc. My lord? 

Bru. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so criedst out? 
Luc. My lord, 1 do not know that I did cry. 
Bru. Yes, that thou didst : didst thou see any thing ? 
Luc. Nothing, my lord. 300 

Bru. Sleep again, Lucius. Sirrah Claudius ! 

[To Varro.] Fellow thou, awake! 
Tar. My lord ? 
Clau. My lord ? 

Bru. Why did you so cry out, sirs, in your sleep? 305 

Var. Clau. Did we, my lord ? 

Bru. Ay ; saw you any thing ? 

Var. No, my lord, I saw nothing. 
Clau. Nor I, my lord. 

Philippi (V. v., 17-19). Plutarch does not state that the apparition was a 
"ghost" of any one, though he connects its appearance with the gods' 
displeasure at the killing of Caesar. He calls it "a horrible vision of a 
man, of a wonderful greatness and dreadful look." 



Act IV. Sc. Hi] JULIUS CAESAR. 119 

Bru. Go and commend me to my brother Cassius; 

Bid him set on his powers betimes before, 

And we will follow. 
Var, Clan. » shall be done, my lord, no 

{Exeunt. 



ACT FIFTH. 

Scene I. The plains of Philippi. 

Enter Octavius, Antony, and their Army. 

Oct. Now, Antony, our hopes are answered. 

You said the enemy would not come down, 
But keep the hills and upper regions; 



Th« Environ* ol 

Philippi 

Altar He u icy 




This map will help one to follow the incidents of the last Act. We may suppose 
that Scene i. took place about midway between the opposing armies, perhaps on the 
banks of the river ; Scene ii., beyond the river from Brntus's camp ; Scenes iii., iv., 
and v., on and near the larger hill behind Cassius's camp. An intrenchment con- 
nected the camps of Brutus and Cassius. 

1-6. Brutus and Cassius have marched north, crossed the Hellespont, 
120 



Act V. Sc. i.] JULIUS CAESAR. 121 

It proves not so : their battles are at hand ; 
They mean to warn us at Philippi here, 5 

Answering before we do demand of them. 
Ant. Tut, I am in their bosoms, and I know 

Wherefore they do it : they could be content 

To visit other places; and come down 

With fearful bravery, thinking by this face 10 

To fasten in our thoughts that they have courage ; 

But 'tis not so. 

Enter a Messenger. 

Mess. Prepare you, generals: 

The enemy comes on in gallant show ; 
Their bloody sign of battle is hung out, 
And something to be done immediately. 15 

Ant. Octavius, lead your battle softly on, 

Upon the left hand of the even field. 
Oct. Upon the right hand I ; keep thou the left. 
Ant. Why do you cross me in this exigent ? 
Oct. I do not cross you ; but I will do so. [March. 20 

Enter Brutus, Cassius, and their Army; Lucil- 
ius, Titinius, Messala, and others. 
Bru. They stand, and would have parley. 
Cas. Stand fast, Titinius : we must out and talk. 

[Brutus and Cassius advance. 

and taken positions on two hills near Philippi, in Macedonia. Against 
Cassius's advice Brutus determines to go down into the plain and risk a 
decisive battle. 

4. battles, forces. 

5. warn, challange. 

14. bloody sign of battle, i. e., a scarlet military coat. 
20. do so, i. e., do as you desire. Others take it to mean : " I do not 
wish to cross you, yet I will do as I have said," i. e., take the right wing, 
the position of honor. As a matter of fact the commanders fought in this 
order : 

Brutus Cassius 

Octavius Antony 



122 JULIUS CAESAR. [ActV.Sc.i. 

Oct. Mark Antony, shall we give sign of battle ? 
Ant. No, Caesar, we will answer on their charge. 

Make forth; the generals would have some words. 25 
Oct. Stir not until the signal. 

[Antony and Octavius advance. 
Bru. Words before blows : is it so, countrymen ? 
Oct. Not that we love words better, as you do. 
Bru. Good words are better than bad strokes, Octavius. 
Ant. In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good words : 30 

Witness the hole you made in Caesar's heart, 

Crying "Long live ! hail, Caesar !" 
Cos. Antony, 

The posture of your blows are yet unknown; 

But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, 

And leave them honeyless. 
Ant. Not stingless too. 35 

Bru. 0, yes, and soundless too; 

For you have stoPn their buzzing, Antony, 

And very wisely threat before you sting. 
Ant. Villains, you did not so, when your vile daggers 

Hacked one another in the sides of Caesar : 40 

You show'd your teeth like apes, and fawn'd like 
hounds, 

And bow'd like bondmen, kissing Caesar's feet ; 

Whilst damned Casca, like a cur, behind 

Struck Caesar on the neck. you flatterers ! 
Cas. Flatterers ! — Now, Brutus, thank yourself : 45 

24. answer on their charge, meet them when they attack. 

27 ff. Note how much "in character "the words of each of the generals 
are. Brutus begins courteously (his "countrymen " seem almost concili- 
atory), and continues with dignity; Octavius is impatient to have the 
"arguing" over and the fighting begin, while both Antony and Cassius 
evidently enjoy the opportunity for freeing their minds. May we suppose 
from lines 27 and 29 that Brutus faintly hoped to make terms? 

33. posture, character. 

34. Hybla, in Sicily ; famous for its honey. 



ActV.Sci.] JULIUS CAESAR. 123 

This tongue had not offended so to-day, 

If Cassius might have rul'd. 
Oct. Come, come, the cause : if arguing make us sweat, 

The proof of it will turn to redder drops. 

Look, — 50 

I draw a sword against conspirators ; 

When think you that the sword goes up again? 

Never, till Caesar's three and thirty wounds 

Be well aveng'd; or till another Caesar 

Have added slaughter to the sword of traitors. 55 

Bru. Caesar, thou canst not die by traitor's hands, 

Unless thou bring'st them with thee. 
Oct. So I hope; 

I was not born to die on Brutus' sword. 
Bru. 0, if thou wert the noblest of thy strain, 

Young man, thou couldst not die more honourable. 60 
Cas. A peevish schoolboy, worthless of such honour, 

Join'd with a masker and a reveller ! 
Ant. Old Cassius still ! 
Oct. Come, Antony, away ! 

Defiance, traitors, hurl we in your teeth : 

If you dare fight to-day, come to the field ; 65 

If not, when you have stomachs. 

[Exeunt Octavius, Antony, and their Army. 
Cas. Why, now, blow wind, swell billow and swim bark ! 

The storm is up, and all is on the hazard. 
Bru. Ho, Lucilius ! hark, a word with you. 
Lucil. My lord ? 

[Brutus and Lucilius converse apart. 
Cas. Messala ! to 

47. That is, if Antony had shared Caesar's fate, as Cassius wished (II. 
i., 154-160). 

62. a masker and a reveller (cf. II., ii., 116). Plutarch says that in 
Antony's house " they did nothing but feast, dance, and mask." 

66. stomaohs, appetites (for fighting). 



124 JULIUS CAESAR. [ActV.Sc.i. 

Mes. What says my general? 

Cas. Messala, 

This is my birth-day; as this very day 

Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala : 

Be thou my witness that against my will, 75 

As Pompey was, am I compelled to set 

Upon one battle all our liberties. 

You know that I held Epicurus strong 

And his opinion : now I change my mind, 

And partly credit things that do presage. so 

Coming from Sardis, on our former ensign 

Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perch'd, 

Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands; 

Who to Philippi here consorted us : 

This morning are they fled away and gone ; ss 

And in their steads do ravens, crows and kites 

Ely o'er our heads and downward look on us, 

As we were sickly prey : their shadows seem 

A canopy most fatal, under which 

Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost. 90 

Mes. Believe not so. 

Cas. I but believe it partly; 

Eor I am fresh of spirit and resolv'd 
To meet all perils very constantly. 

[Brutus and Lucilius come forward. 

Bru. Even so, Lucilius. 

Cas. Now, most noble Brutus, 

The gods to-day stand friendly, that we may, 95 

Lovers in peace, lead on our days to age ! 

76. As Pompey was, i. e., at Pharsalia (not far from Philippi), where, 
when pressed by Caesar, he was forced by his officers to risk everything 
on one battle. So Cassius is "compelled " by Brutus. 

78. held Epicurus strong, held strongly to Epicurus's opinion (that 
the gods never gave men omens). 

95. An invocation : "May the gods stand friendly." 



ActV.Sci.] JULIUS CAESAR. 125 

But since the affairs of men rest still incertain, 

Let's reason with the worst that may befall. 

If we do lose this battle, then is this 

The very last time we shall speak together : ico 

What are you then determined to do ? 

Bru. Even by the rule of that philosophy 

By which I did blame Cato for the death 

Which he did give himself : — I know not how, 

But I do find it cowardly and vile, 105 

For fear of what might fall, so to prevent 

The time of life : — arming myself with patience 

To stay the providence of some high powers 

That govern us below. 

Cas. Then, if we lose this battle, 110 

You are contented to be led in triumph 
Thorough the streets of Rome? 

Bru. No, Cassius, no: think not, thou noble Eoman, 
That ever Brutus will go bound to Borne ; 
He bears too great a mind. But this same day 115 

Must end that work the ides of March begun; 
And whether we shall meet again I know not. 
Therefore our everlasting farewell take: 
For ever, and for ever, farewell, Cassius ! 
If we do meet again, why, we shall smile ; 120 

If not, why then, this parting was well made. 

Cas. For ever, and for ever, farewell, Brutus ! 
If we do meet again, we'll smile indeed; 
If not, 'tis true this parting was well made. 

Bru. Why, then, lead on. — 0, that a man might know 125 

102-9. I am determined (even by the rule, etc.) to await whatever is 
provided by the high powers that govern us below, prevent, anticipate, 
hasten, time, allotted time, end. to stay, to stay for, to await. 

114-5. Apparently, Brutus's determination not to commit suicide gives 
way when he faces the possibility of "being led in triumph through the 
streets of Koine.' ' "He bears too great a mind " for that. 



126 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act V. Sc. iil. 

The end of this day's business ere it come ! 

But it sufficeth that the day will end, 

And then the end is known. Come, ho ! away ! 

[Exeunt. 

Scene II. The same. The field of battle. 

Alarum. Enter Brutus and Messala. 

Bru. Bide, ride, Messala, ride, and give these bills 

Unto the legions on the other side. [Loud alarum. 
Let them set on at once ; for I perceive 
But cold demeanour in Octavius' wing, 
And sudden push gives them the overthrow. 
Ride, ride, Messala : let them all come down. 

[Exeunt, 

Scene III. Another part of the field. 
Alarums. Enter Cassius and Titinius. 

Cas. 0, look, Titinius, look, the villains fly ! 
Myself have to mine own turn'd enemy: 
This ensign here of mine was turning back; 
I slew the coward, and did take it from him. 

Tit. Cassius, Brutus gave the word too early; 
Who, having some advantage on Octavius, 
Took it too eagerly: his soldiers fell to spoil, 
Whilst we by Antony are all enclosed. 

Scene ii. — The Scene opens just after Brutus has gained "some advan- 
tage" over Octavius. He sends Messala to Cassius with a "wreath of 
victory" (iii., 81-3) and orders ("bills") to attack at once. Cassius mis- 
takes Messala and his escort for enemies, which occasions the tragedy of 
the next scene. 

Scene iii. — Antony's forces have routed those of Cassius, who, with an 
officer, is alone on a hill. 

1. the villains, i. e., Cassius's own men. 



Act V. Sc. iii.] JULIUS CAESAR. 127 

Enter Pindarus. 

Pin. Fly further off, my lord, fly further off ; 

Mark Antony is in your tents, my lord : 10 

Fly, therefore, noble Cassius, fly far off. 
Cas. This hill is far enough. Look, look, Titinius ; 

Are those my tents where I perceive the fire ? 
Tit. They are, my lord. 
Cas. Titinius, if thou lovest me, 

Mount thou my horse, and hide thy spurs in him, 15 

Till he have brought thee up to yonder troops, 

And here again ; that I may rest assured 

Whether yond troops are friend or enemy. 
Tit. I will be here again, even with a thought. [Exit. 

Cas. Go, Pindarus, get higher on that hill ; 20 

My sight was ever thick ; regard Titinius, 

And tell me what thou not'st about the field. 

[Pindarus ascends the hill. 

This day I breathed first : time is come round, 

And where I did begin, there shall I end; 

My life is run his compass. Sirrah, what news? 25 

Pin. [Above.] my lord ! 
Cas. What news? 
Pin. [Above.] Titinius is enclosed round about 

With horsemen, that make to him on the spur ; 

Yet he spurs on. Now they are almost on him. 30 

Now, Titinius ! Now some light. 0, he lights too. 

He's ta'en. [Shout.] And hark ! they shout for joy. 
Cas. Come down, behold no more. 

0, coward that I am, to live so long, 

13. Cassius's eyesight was poor (line 21). 
16. yonder troops, Messala and his escort. 

25. his compass, "its course, here a circular one, ending where it 
began " (Wright). 

29. with horsemen, those with Messala. 



X28 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act V. Sc. iii. 

To see my best friend ta'en before my face ! 35 

[Pindarus descends. 
Come hither, sirrah: 
In Parthia did I take thee prisoner; 
And then I swore thee, saving of thy life, 
That whatsoever I did bid thee do, 
Thou shouldst attempt it. Come now, keep thine 

oath ; 40 

Now be a freeman : and with this good sword, 
That ran through Caesar's bowels, search this bosom. 
Stand not to answer: here, take thou the hilts; 
And when my face is cover'd, as 'tis now, 
Guide thou the sword. [Pindarus stabs him. 

Caesar, thou art reveng'd, 45 

Even with the sword that kill'd thee. [Dies. 

Pin. So, I am free ! — yet would not so have been, 
Durst I have done my will. Cassius, 
Far from this country Pindarus shall run, 
Where never Roman shall take note of him. [Exit. 50 

Re-enter Titinius with Messala. 

Mes. It is but change, Titinius: for Octavius 

Is overthrown by noble Brutus' power, 

As Cassius' legions are by Antony. 
Tit. These tidings will well comfort Cassius. 
Mes. Where did you leave him ? 
Tit. All disconsolate, 55 

With Pindarus his bondman, on this hill. 
Mes. Is not that he that lies upon the ground? 
Tit. He lies not like the living. my heart ! 
Mes. Is not that he? 
Tit. No, this was he, Messala, 

41. be a freeman, become a freeman. Cassius promises him liberty as 
a price for the service. To be legal this oral manumission would require 



Act V. Sc. ili.] JULIUS CAESAR. 129 

But Cassius is no more. setting sun, 60 

As in thy red rays thou dost sink to night, 
So in his red blood Cassius' day is set; 
The sun of Borne is set ! Our day is gone ; 
Clouds, dews, and dangers come ; our deeds are done ! 
Mistrust of my success hath done this deed. 65 

Mes. Mistrust of good success hath done this deed. 
hateful Error, Melancholy's child, 
Why dost thou show to the apt thoughts of men 
The things that are not? Error, soon conceiv'd, 
Thou never com'st unto a happy birth, 70 

But kilPst the mother that engender'd thee ! 

Tit What, Pindarus ! where art thou, Pindarus ? 

Mes. Seek him, Titinius, whilst I go to meet 
The noble Brutus, thrusting this report 
Into his ears; I may say, thrusting it, 75 

For piercing steel and darts envenomed 
Shall be as welcome to the ears of Brutus 
As tidings of this sight. 

Tit. Hie you, Messala, 

And I will seek for Pindarus the while. 

[Exit Messala. 
Why didst thou send me forth, brave Cassius? 80 

Did I not meet thy friends ? and did not they 
Put on my brows this wreath of victory, 
And bid me give it thee ? Didst thou not hear their 

shouts ? 
Alas, thou hast misconstrued every thing ! 
But, hold thee, take this garland on thy brow ; 85 

Thy Brutus bid me give it thee, and I 
Will do his bidding. Brutus, come apace, 
And see how I regarded Caius Cassius. 
By your leave, gods : — this is a Roman's part : 

65. suooess, "outcome, i. e., what had happened to me" (Alden). 
9 



130 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act V. Sc. iii. 

Come, Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart. w 

[Kills himself. 

Alarum. Re-enter Messala, with Brutus, young Cato, 
Strato, Volumnius, and Lucilius. 

Bru. Where, where, Messala, doth his body lie? 

Mes. Lo, yonder, and Titinius mourning it. 

Bru. Titinius' face is upward. 

Cato. He is slain. 

Bru. Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet! 

Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords 95 

In our own proper entrails. [Low alarums. 

Cato. Brave Titinius ! 

Look, whether he have not crown'd dead Cassius ! 

Bru. Are yet two Romans living such as these ? 
The last of all the Romans, fare thee well ! 
It is impossible that ever Rome 100 

Should breed thy fellow. Friends, I owe moe tears 
To this dead man than you shall see me pay. — 
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time. — 
Come, therefore, and to Thasos send his body : 
His funerals shall not be in our camp, 105 

Lest it discomfort us. Lucilius, come; 
And come, young Cato; let us to the field. 
Labeo and Flavius, set our battles on: 
'Tis three o'clock; and, Romans, yet ere night 
We shall try fortune in a second fight. [Exeunt, no 

94-6. Brutus, like Cassius (lines 45-6), recognizes now that it is 
"Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge" (III. i., 270-5) against which they 
have fought. ''In three years the tyrannicides of the Ides of March, 
with their aiders and abettors, were all dead ; some killed in battle, some 
in prison, some dying by their own hand " (Froude). 

104. Thasos, an island off the coast of Philippi. It was the naval base 
of Brutus and Cassius. 

105. funerals, funeral services. 

106. discomfort, discourage. Lucilius, come. Brutus once more turns 
from sorrowing for the dead to " work alive " (IV. iii., 198.) 



ActV.Sciv.] JULIUS CAESAR. 131 



Scene IV. Another part of the field. 

Alarum. Enter, fighting, Soldiers of both armies; then 
Brutus, young Cato, Lucilius, and others. 

Bru. Yet, countrymen, 0, yet hold up your heads ! 
Cato. What bastard doth not ? Who will go with me ? 

I will proclaim my name about the field. 

I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho ! 

A foe to tyrants, and my country's friend ; 5 

I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho ! 
Bru. And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I ; 

Brutus, my country's friend ; know me for Brutus ! 
[Exit Brutus; Cato is overpowered and falls. 
Lucil. young and noble Cato, art thou down? 

Why, now thou diest as bravely as Titinius ; 10 

And mayst be honour'd, being Cato's son. 
First Sol. Yield, or thou diest. 
Lucil. Only I yield to die: 

There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight ; 

[Offering money. 

Kill Brutus, and be honour'd in his death. 
First Sol. We must not. A noble prisoner ! is 

Sec. Sol. Room, ho ! Tell Antony, Brutus is ta'en. 
First Sol. I'll tell the news. Here comes the general. 

Enter Antony. 

Brutus is ta'en, Brutus is ta'en, my lord. 
Ant. Where is he? 

12. " I yield only to die." 

13. that, on condition that. 

14. Kill Brutus. By this artifice Lucilius hopes to save the life of 
Brutus by losing his own. (Compare the devotion of Titinius to Cassius.) 
The remainder of the play gives a series of acts of devotion to friends and 
of generosity to foes. 



132 JULIUS CAESAR. [ActV.Sc.v. 

Lucil. Safe, Antony; Brutus is safe enough. 20 

I dare assure thee that no enemy 
Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus : 
The gods defend him from so great a shame ! 
When you do find him, or alive or dead, 
He will be found like Brutus, like himself. 2.0 

Ant. This is not Brutus, friend; but, I assure you, 
A prize no less in worth. Keep this man safe; 
Give him all kindness: I had rather have 
Such men my friends than enemies. Go on, 
And see whether Brutus be alive or dead ; 30 

And bring us word unto Octavius' tent 
How every thing is chanced. [Exeunt. 

Scene V. Another part of the field. 

Enter Brutus, Dardanius, Clitus, Strato, and Volum- 

nius. 

Bru. Come, poor remains of friends, rest on this rock. 
Cli. Statilius show'd the torch-light, but, my lord, 

He came not back : he is or ta'en or slain. 
Bru. Sit thee down, Clitus : slaying is the word ; 

It is a deed in fashion. Hark thee, Clitus. 5 

[Whispers to Clitus. 
Cli. What, I, my lord ? No, not for all the world. 
Bru. Peace then ! no words. 

Cli. I'll rather kill myself. 

Bru. Hark thee, Dardanius. 

[Whispers to Dardanius. 
Bar. Shall I do such a deed? 

[Brutus stands apart. 

Scene v. — The battle is lost, and Brutus is to imitate the example of 
Cato, whom he has blamed. 

2. Statilius show'd, etc. Plutarch says that Brutus sent Statilius to 



ActV.Sc.v.] JULIUS CAESAR. 133 

Cli. Dardanius ! 

Bar. Clitus ! io 

Cli. What ill request did Brutus make to thee? 

Bar. To kill him, Clitus. Look, he meditates. 

Cli. Now is that noble vessel full of grief, 
That it runs over even at his eyes. 

Bru. Come hither, good Volumnius; list a word. 15 

Vol. What says my lord? 

Bru. Why, this, Volumnius: 

The ghost of Caesar hath appeared to me 
Two several times by night; at Sardis once, 
And, this last night, here in Philippi fields : 
I know my hour is come. 

Vol. Not so, my lord. 20 

Bru. Nay, I am sure it is, Volumnius. 

Thou seest the world, Volumnius, how it goes; 
Our enemies have beat us to the pit: 

[Low alarums. 
It is more worthy to leap in ourselves, 
Than tarry till they push us. Good Volumnius, 25 

Thou know'st that we two went to school together : 
Even for that our love of old, I prithee, 
Hold thou my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it. 

Vol. That's not an office for a friend, my lord. 

[Alarum still. 

Cli. Fly, fly, my lord; there is no tarrying here. 30 

Bru. Farewell to you; — and you; — and you, Volumnius. 
Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep ; 
Farewell to thee too, Strato. Countrymen, 
My heart doth joy that yet in all my life 

see whether many of their men had been killed, it being agreed, "if all 
were well, that he would lift up a torchlight in the air, and then return 
again with speed." 

32, 33. Strato, thou hast, etc. Another last touch of gentleness toward 
human frailty. The " thou " shows that Strato was a servant. 



134 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act V. Sc. v. 

I found no man but he was true to me. 35 

I shall have glory by this losing day 

More than Octavius and Mark Antony 

By this vile conquest shall attain unto. 

So fare you well at once; for Brutus' tongue 

Hath almost ended his life's history : 40 

Night hangs upon mine eyes ; my bones would rest, 

That have but laboured to attain this hour. 

[Alarum. Cry within, "Fly, fly, fly!" 

Cli. Fly, my lord, fly. 

Bru. Hence ! I will follow. 

[Exeunt Clitus, Dardanius, and Volumnius. 
1 prithee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord. 
Thou art a fellow of a good respect ; 45 

Thy life hath had some smatch of honour in it : 
Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face, 
While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato ? 

Stra. Give me your hand first. Fare you well, my lord. 

Bru. Farewell, good Strato. [Runs on his sword, and 

falls.] Caesar, now be still : so 

I kill'd not thee with half so good a will. [Dies. 

Alarum. Retreat. Enter Octavius, Antony, Messala, 
Lucilius, and the army. 

Oct. What man is that? 

Mes. My master's man. Strato, where is thy master ? 

Stra. Free from the bondage you are in, Messala: 

The conquerors can but make a fire of him ; 55 

For Brutus only overcame himself, 

And no man else hath honour by his death. 

46. smatch, smack, taste. 

50, 51. Caesar, now be still, etc. Like those of Cassius, the last words 
of Brutus are addressed to Caesar. Might not the whole play have been 
called "Caesar's Revenge"? With his death Brutus prays Caesar to be 
satisfied, henceforth to " be still." Does Shakspere reconcile us to Brutus's 
fate ? Ought he to do so ? 



ActV.Sc.v.] JULIUS CAESAR. 135 

Lucil. So Brutus should be found. I thank thee, Brutus, 
That thou hast proved Lucilius' saying true. 

Oct. All that serv'd Brutus, I will entertain them. eo 

Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me ? 

Stra. Ay, if Messala will prefer me to you. 

Oct. Do so, good Messala. 

Mes. How died my master, Strato ? 

Stra. I held the sword, and he did run on it. 65 

Mes. Octavius, then take him to follow thee, 
That did the latest service to my master. 

Ant. This was the noblest Roman of them all : 
All the conspirators, save only he, 

Did that they did in envy of great Caesar ; to 

He only, in a general honest thought 
And common good to all, made one of them. 
His life was gentle, and the elements 
So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up 
And say to all the world, "This was a man !" 75 

Oct. According to his virtue let us use him, 
With all respect and rites of burial. 
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie, 
Most like a soldier, ordered honourably. — 
So call the field to rest ; and let's away so 

To part the glories of this happy day. [Exeunt. 

62. prefer, recommend, turn over. 

69-72. Plutarch says that Antony several times expressed this opinion 
of Brutus's motives. 

73-5. His life was gentle , etc. This passage has been often applied to 
Shakspere himself. The four "elements" were: air, earth, water, and 
fire. In the poet's figure we may imagine Nature to have long bent to 
the task of making a perfect mixture of these elements and to have risen 
at last satisfied, showing unashamed to the world her consummate handi- 
work. Is there any element of nobility which Brutus lacks? Is any one 
out of proportion to the others? Are his errors of judgment due to any 
subtle faults of character ? 



APPENDIX. 

INTEBPRETATION OF THE PLAY. 

The Leading Characters. 

If the originality of Shakspere is shown in the con- 
struction of the plot of the play, despite his indebtedness 
to Plutarch for the materials used in its construction (see 
p. 24), much more is it shown in the characters of the play. 
The main characters are not Plutarch's, they are creations 
of the poet. His Caesar, for instance, is as truly a crea- 
tion as is Michael Angelo's " David," in which the greater 
sculptor simply reshaped the work of an inferior one. 
The French critic Taine well says : " Shakspere is the most 
marvelous of all creators of souls." Let us look at some 
of these creations in our play. 

Julius Caesar 

The Caesar of our play is not the Caesar of history. 
It is, indeed, historically true that the great dictator's 
character deteriorated somewhat in his last days. But the 
kindly-spoken, large-souled, steady-willed Caesar never 
became the arrogant, irresolute creature that struts and 
frets in the first part of our play. Shakspere's Caesar 
boasts in the Senate that he alone among men is constant, 
as is the northern star among its fellows in the firmament ; 
yet in the unreserve of his home he is as wavering as a 
will-o'-the-wisp. He craves flattery, though affecting to 

137 



138 JULIUS CAESAR. 

scorn it. He uses his own name as if it were that of a 
divinity. He and Danger are "two lions litter'd in one 
day," and he " the elder and more terrible." This is al- 
most insanity. In the play, even physical weaknesses of 
Caesar are dwelt on: his strength fails him in the Tiber; 
in his fever he cries " like a sick girl " ; he is become deaf ; 
he falls in a fit of epilepsy. The picture, as a whole, is 
absolutely unhistoric. To what shall we attribute this dis- 
tortion of fact? Some, as Boswell and Brandes, take it 
as evidence of the poet's ignorance of history. But in the 
second part of our play, as in other of his plays, there is 
ample evidence that Shakspere appreciated the greatness 
of Caesar. The moment Caesar falls, depreciation almost 
entirely ceases. Brutus' s harshest word in his address to 
the mob is, " He was ambitious." To Cassius he asserts 
that Caesar had lent his support to dishonest men, but in 
the same breath calls him " the foremost man of all this 
world." When Antony is alone with the " bleeding piece 
of earth," and is therefore not speaking for effect, Shak- 
spere puts into his lips an address to 

" the noblest man 

That ever lived in the tide of times." 

Shakspere's purpose in the play is clear, I think, if we 
suppose him to intend that our personal interest shall 
center in Brutus, that he shall be, to use the phrase of 
Professor E. M. Alden, the " moral hero " of the play, 
as Caesar, in the body and out of the body, is its " dra- 
matic hero." That he may bring Brutus before us in 
heroic stature, he dwarfs the colossal Caesar. That we 
may not be repelled from Brutus by " the hole he made 
in Caesar's heart," he shows that heart so small and hol- 
low as to invite its fate. Brutus appears the more nobly 
unselfish because of the ignoble self-worship of Caesar. 



APPENDIX, 139 

But when the great crime is done, and, in the second part 
of the play, it becomes necessary to prepare us to accept 
the retribution upon Brutus for his great though unin- 
tended wrong, the dramatist becomes silent as to Caesar's 
faults and exalts his virtues. This inconsistency of the 
two presentments of Caesar is indeed an artistic defect, 
but consistency would have been a greater one. 



Brutus 

Marcus Brutus is undoubtedly the center of the per- 
sonal interest in the play. He is, says Mr. Morley, "the 
most perfect character in Shakspere, but for one great 
error in his life." He alone exhibits sustained elevation 
of character. Antony's devotion to Caesar is noble; so 
also is his tribute to his fallen foe, Brutus, though this 
latter is really a lime-light thrown, as the curtain falls, 
upon Brutus himself, leaving in our memory the incom- 
parable Man. But Antony elsewhere falls to very low levels. 
Portia but reflects her husband's own nobility, while her 
distracted fear throws into relief his own massive poise; 
this massiveness in turn makes more gracious his tender- 
ness to her. Lucius, the slave boy, is carried through the 
play to give touching occasion for the exquisite sympathy 
of his master, who forgets the overwhelming burdens of 
his own spirit to remember the mere flesh-weariness of 
the child. Cassius's cynicism is a constant foil to Bru- 
tus's warm and simple-minded faith, which leads him to 
say: 

" I rejoice that yet in all my life 
I found no man but he was true to me." 

The selfish motive of all the other conspirators makes 
Brutus' s self-sacrificing course more appealing. Through- 



140 JULIUS CAESAR. 

out the play the characters seem drawn and the action ar- 
ranged to converge our admiration and love upon this 
noblest Roman of them all. 

Yet Shakspere is too true to his art and to life to por- 
tray a faultless character. Brutus is fretful with his 
wife (II. i., 238-247); he is confessedly "ill-tempered" 
with Cassius; he is rather too conscious and assertive of 
his " honor/' He knows the times are out of joint, but 
utterly misjudges why they are so and how they may be 
set right. Our play has often been compared to that of 
Hamlet, and Brutus to the Prince of Denmark himself. 
Both Brutus and Hamlet are swayed by lofty ideals of 
personal and public duty; but both men are purely ideal- 
ists. Lacking in practical judgment, both as to ends and 
means, each feels called upon to act a heroic part for 
which he is unfitted and in which he pitifully fails. But 
Brutus has the heroic will, which Hamlet has not. 



Cassius 

Cassius is "a great observer," who "looks quite 
through the deeds of men." He rightly judges Antony, 
whose death he would add to Caesar's : he is not deceived 
by Antony's fine acting in the Capitol, and would not have 
him suffered to speak to the people; while Brutus seeks 
to move Antony by talking of " honor," Cassius talks to 
him of a share in the spoils. Cassius sees also, or thinks 
he sees, that even Brutus's " honourable metal may be 
wrought From that it is disposed," and so waters the 
seeds of envy and ambition which he believes lie latent in 
Brutus's heart. He indeed says to Brutus : " Honour is 
the subject of my story (I. ii., 92)"; but the story that fol- 
lows shows that "honour" means to him much what it 
does to the duelist, not what it does to the patriot. Selfish 



APPENDIX. 141 

motives sway Cassius habitually, he does all " in envy of 
great Caesar/' who rightly says of him : 

" Such men be never at heart's ease 
While they behold a greater than themselves." 

But Cassius is not a strong character, and his part in the 
action of the play is relatively unimportant. He leads 
Brutus into the conspiracy, but at once surrenders its di- 
rection and that of the subsequent war into Brutus's 
hands. He protests against Brutus's fatal misjudgments 
as to Antony and against his strategic blunders in the 
campaign; but his opposition is ineffective and serves no 
other purpose, it seems, than to bring out the fatal — and 
dramatically fated — weakness of Brutus's judgment, so 
contrasted with his mastering strength of will. Through- 
out the play Cassius is but a foil to Brutus. This is 
notably true in the quarrel scene in the tent ; there Brutus 
deals with him as an angry mastiff might with a terrier, 
which finally crawls to lick the big dog's paws. Cassius is 
not incapable of generous passions, as is shown in his evi- 
dent devotion to Brutus. It is exhibited also in his self- 
accusing grief at Titinius's supposed capture; but it is a 
hysterical grief, which leads to weak despair, and while 
the battle is still undecided he bribes a slave to kill him. 
It is only when all is lost that Brutus takes his own life. 

Antony 

Antony is presented in the first part of the play as a 
light-hearted " reveler," of whom we, like Brutus, expect 
little. But Cassius knows him as " a shrewd schemer." 
A consummate schemer he shows himself, and as bold as 
adroit. At the moment of Caesar's fall Antony drops his 
revelry and steps forth as the commanding figure in the 



142 JULIUS CAESAR. 

action. His forensic triumph, won by means that we feel 
are adequate to the end, is easily the dramatic climax of 
the play : facing an unfriendly mob he lifts an apparently 
defeated cause to a power which nothing can defeat. In 
the conference with Octavius in Rome he is the leader, 
and if he yields at Philippi to the imperious demand of 
Octavius for command of the right wing, he shows strength 
rather than weakness in avoiding a rupture in that " exi- 
gent.'' It is upon Antony, with the dead Brutus, that 
our eyes are fixed in the last scene. His generous praise 
of his defeated foe and his heroic loyalty to Caesar, in 
whom his love is deeply " ingrafted," show some elements 
of magnanimity. In Brutus's civic virtue Antony does not 
share; nor in Brutus's humanity and sense of personal 
justice, as is seen in the heartless proscription to which he 
is a party and in his meanly selfish treatment of Lepidus. 

Octavius 

Although historically far greater than any other of the 
characters except Caesar, Octavius's part in the play is 
rather slight. He shares with the other triumvirs the guilt 
of the " black sentence and proscription " ; he is impe- 
riously defiant toward his foes before the battle, and mag- 
nanimous to them after it. His main function in the play 
is to give " Caesar's spirit," which dominates the second 
part of the play, a personal symbol; he is that spirit in- 
carnated. 

Portia and Calpurnia 

Portia has been called a " softened reflection " of Bru- 
tus. She does reflect something of his mingled strength 
and tenderness and of his noble pride of character. It 
is not, however, the steady reflection of a mirror, but the 
tremulous one of a pool. The image is blurred as well as 



APPENDIX. 143 

softened. When Brutus goes to the Capitol she acts al- 
most hysterically; and when she hears of his military re- 
verses she falls " distract " and kills herself, thus need- 
lessly adding to the crushing load on his heart. In the 
Merchant of Venice the Portia of that play and " Brutus's 
Portia " are likened in their wifely devotion. But Bas- 
sanio's wife has the poise and good sense, together with a 
womanly winsomeness, which Brutus's wife does not ex- 
hibit, as, indeed, she has little occasion to exhibit. 

As compared with Portia, Calpurnia is a much slighter 
character. She is, however, affectionate, and acts much as 
any wife would in the same circumstances. 

The two domestic scenes are doubtless introduced, in 
part, to give relief from the prevailing duplicity and 
bloodiness. In part also they serve to reveal to us the 
true characters of the two heroes, whom we there see be- 
hind the scenes. Brutus treats his wife with knightly 
courtesy and a lover's tenderness; Caesar is not unloving, 
but is querulous and self-centered. It is, we may suppose, 
chiefly to give occasion for the two men to disclose them- 
selves, in the intimate unreserve of the home, that their 
wives are introduced. 



The Commoners 

The Commoners appear in the first Scene of the play 
and, as " Citizens," in the last two scenes of the third 
Act. We have also Casca's cynical account of them in 
I. ii., 242-276. As it is really " the vulgar " who decide 
the fate of the conspiracy, it is important to form a 
definite judgment of them. Such judgment, moreover, 
will help us in testing the quite common opinion that 
Shakspere, as " a poet of feudalism," regarded " the peo- 
ple " with slight respect. 



144 JULIUS CAESAR. 

In judging the commoners of our play it should be 
remembered that, except in the opening lines, we see them 
in the mass and under the spell of commanding oratory or 
personality. All men in the mass are strangely easily 
swayed by eloquent speech or eloquent character. Have 
not senates been carried off their feet by oratory less com- 
pelling than that of Marullus, or that of Antony? Have 
they not yielded to the spell of personalities less imposing 
than that of Brutus? 

We should also consider the character of the motives 
by which the " vulgar " is swayed. If we analyze the 
speeches we will see that they assume in the hearers intel- 
ligence, conscience, and generous feeling. Antony does, 
indeed, appeal to their self-interest when he produces 
Caesar's will. But their response to this appeal hardly 
argues exceptional selfishness; it is, moreover, less con- 
trolling than their unselfish, indignant pity for Caesar, 
which makes them so " forget the will " that Antony has 
to remind them of it. 

It is also to be noted that the commoners are not with- 
out convictions and the courage of them. Though loyal 
to Caesar, they applaud his refusal of the crown; and 
though they reverence Brutus, they imperiously demand 
reasons for his course. Though unfriendly to Antony, 
they give him a ready and fair hearing. It is true that 
in the scene with Cinna, the poet, we have the crowd, 
which had wished to hear and " compare reasons," become 
a mob, which listens to no reasons. But there are some 
grounds, suggested in the notes, for thinking that Shak- 
spere did not mean this scene to be taken too seriously. 
At worst, are not the generally well-meaning citizens the 
victims, in that scene, of the " mob mania," from which 
senates are not exempt, and which concern the moralist 
less than the alienist? 



APPENDIX. 145 



Other Characters 

Cicero, who might have become the leader of the con- 
spirators but who " will never follow anything that other 
men begin/' is introduced partly for the historic interest 
of the man. He is, also, a foil to Casca, with whose hor- 
ror at the prodigies of the night before the murder, a 
horror which an Elizabethan audience would thoroughly 
understand, the philosophic unconcern of Cicero is in 
marked contrast. As for Casca, he is a typical blusterer. 
Ligarius serves to show the blind faith which Brutus's 
character inspires, and Lucius brings out the exquisite 
tenderness of his master. The remaining characters are 
unimportant. 

The Significance of the Play. 

Various interpretations of the play as a whole may be 
grouped into two classes. 

First: interpretations which recognize in the play "no 
specific, no intentional moral/' (a) Some critics suppose 
that Shakspere was mainly, if not wholly, intent on in- 
terpreting and satisfying the popular taste. " What he 
was chiefly thinking of," says Mr. H. W. Alden, " was to 
take a first-rate story and make a first-rate play of it for 
his Elizabethan audiences." The time in which the play 
was written was one of disillusion, of political and spirit- 
ual unrest, of deepening sense of human fault and frailty. 
Of this mood Puritanism was the religious expression, 
" Julius Caesar " and the other tragedies of this period an 
expression in drama, (b) Others who find no distinct 
" purpose " in the play see in it a reflection of the poet's 
own mood, rather than that of his time. " The historical 
plays," says Dowden, " are documents written all over with 
10 



146 JULIUS CAESAR. 

facts about Shakspere." Our play reflects the poet's tem- 
peramental melancholy, intensified by bereavement and 
perhaps, as his sonnets seem to imply, by some betrayal. 

Second: interpretations which recognize in the play 
some distinct teaching, more or less designedly taught. 
As to what this lesson is, opinions widely vary, (a) One 
view is expressed, not very consistently, by Mr. Furnival : 
" The lesson of Julius Caesar is, that vengeance, death, 
shall follow rebellion for insufficient cause, for misjudg- 
ing the political state of one's country, and misjudging 
the means — taking unlawful ones — to attain your ends: 
Do not evil that good may come. . . . What made 
Shakspere produce this historical play in 1601 ? Why, 
Essex's ill-judged rebellion against Queen Elizabeth, on 
Sunday, February 8, 1601. . . . He was taken prisoner, 
tried, and executed on February 25." (b) Mr. Morley sees 
a twofold purpose : " It paints feeble man in greed of the 
empire, and tyrannicide as worse than fruitless." 

(c) In the judgment of Mr. Galton the main motive of 
the play is not governmental but personal. It is to teach 
that " any false dealing with friendship, with human 
affection, is surely, slowly punished." 

(d) To others, as Ulrici and Barrett Wendell, the les- 
son is not primarily one of either political or personal 
ethics. It is that of the inevitableness of History, of the 
natural course of events, fulfilling, says Ulrici, " the eter- 
nal counsels of God." In this aspect history may be fig- 
ured as a great river, fed by innumerable streams of 
tendency, great and little. It flows out of the past, through 
the present, into the future, sometimes silently, sometimes 
with the tumult of Niagara, but always resistlessly, and 
always in the course which the nature of things has or- 
dained. It is beyond the will of any man to divert it from 
its course, still less can he stop its inexorable movement. 



APPENDIX. 147 

Caesar tried to do the former, Brutus the latter ; both were 
overwhelmed by it. 

" No man," says Ulrici, " even though he were as mighty as 
Caesar and as noble as Brutus, is sufficiently great to guide his- 
tory according to his own will. . . . Antony, on the other hand, 
with Octavius and Lepidus — the talented voluptuary, the clever 
actor, and the good-natured simpleton — although not half so pow- 
erful and noble as their opponents, come off victorious, because, in 
fact, they but followed the course of history and knew how to 
make use of it." x 

Of course, the acceptance of one of the above interpreta- 
tions does not necessarily require the rejection of all the 
others. Shakspere may have meant to teach more than 
one lesson; or if he was mainly intent on making a play 
that would take with his audiences, yet, as Mr. Alden says, 
" like everything else done thoroughly well for a particu- 
lar time and place, the result had a permanent value, 
showing forth universal lessons of human life and conduct, 
which outlast the original purpose." 



THE PLAY AS VEESE: VERSE AS A FORM OF 
MUSIC. 

As printed or written a word is simply a symbol, not 
differing in function from an algebraic symbol. For 
example, the word " minus " as here printed is simply a 
certain group of lines which conveys to the mind, through 
the eye, a certain idea; the sign "— " is a single line 
which stands for the same idea and conveys it to the mind 
in the same way. But a spoken word is something more 
than a symbol; its sound has an effect on the ear quite 

'Shakespeare's Dramatic Art (trans, by L. D. Smitz), ii., 197. 



148 JULIUS CAESAR. 

apart from that which it has upon the mind. Eightly 
chosen and arranged, as they are in good verse, word- 
sounds are as capable of musical effects as are the sounds 
of a flute. Verse is, indeed, simply a form of music. 
" For all purposes of verse," says Mr. Sidney Lanier, 
" words are unquestionably musical sounds produced by a 
reed-instrument — the human voice. . . . There is abso- 
lutely no difference between the sound-relations used in 
music and those used in verse." 1 A poetical drama has, 
therefore, a subtle accompaniment of music, securing con- 
tinuously something of the effect which is occasionally se- 
cured in the more impressive scenes of a modern prose- 
drama by orchestral accompaniment. The dullest ear 
must detect the music in such lines as these: 

" How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank ! 
Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music 
Creep in our ears : soft stillness and the night 
Become the touches of sweet harmony." 

Merchant of Venice, V. i. 

The musical effects of verse are secured mainly by three 
means: Euphony, Rhyme, and Rhythm. 

Euphony. — The words of Lorenzo above quoted 
" creep in our ears " with something of the " sweet har- 
mony" to which he and Jessica listened. As somewhat 
of this musical quality is found in good prose as well as 
in poetry, it cannot be due to the rhythm merely. It is 
due in part to the very sounds of the words and phrases, 
which please the ear as do single tones and chords in 
music. 

Rhyme. — This device pleases the ear by the measured 
recurrence of a sound. By rhyme we usually mean the 
repetition of a sound at the close of lines; this is called 

'The Science of English Verse, I., 48, 49. 



APPENDIX. 149 

end-rhyme, as distinguished from initial-rhyme, or allit- 
eration. In his early plays Shakspere followed the fash- 
ion in using end-rhymes freely. But, as Milton did, he 
came to feel the unfitness of rhyme for a long poem. In 
his later plays it is used rarely, as in Julius Caesar, or not 
at all. When used it is (1) in moments of dramatic in- 
tensity, or (2) at the close of scenes, to indicate such close 
to the audience, for the Elizabethan theater had no drop- 
curtain. (Cf., in our play, the closing lines of I. ii; II. 
iii; V. iii. and v.) Initial-rhyme, or alliteration, he al- 
ways used freely. In its strict sense alliteration is the oc- 
currence of the same letter at the beginning of words near 
together; but as alliteration is addressed to the ear and 
not the eye the term may be applied to the occurrence of 
the same sound or similar sounds anywhere in words near 
together. As so used its musical value is illustrated in the 
lines : 

" And after this, let Caesar seat him sure." I. ii., 322. 
" After life's, fitful fever he sleeps well ; " Macb. III. ii. 

Ehythm. — This is the measured recurrence of stress, 
or accent, as rhyme is the recurrence of a particular 
sound. There is the distinct musical effect of a drum-beat 
in such a line as : 

" You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things ! " I. 
i., 38. 

Such a line is commonly called an iambic pentameter; 
that is, it may be divided into five feet of two syllables 
each, the second syllable of each foot being accented. This 
is the typical line. In his earliest plays Shakspere sought 
to conform all of his lines to this type. But he soon saw 
that unvarying meter, like constant use of rhyme, ham- 
pered his expression and tired the hearer; so he increas- 



150 JULIUS CAESAR. 

ingly varied his lines in a number of ways, some of which 
are here noted. 

1. Variation in the number of syllables in a line. This 
varies in our play from two to thirteen. 

"Begone! " I. i., 56. 

" Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius." II. i., 165. 

Such extremes are very rare, but lines with nine or eleven 
syllables are common. Those with twelve or thirteen are 
called Alexandrines. 

2. Variation in the number of stresses, or accents, in 
a line. Hardly one line in three has, according to Dr. E. 
A. Abbott, the full number of five distinct stresses; about 
two lines in three have four such stresses. It is, how- 
ever, usual to consider that each foot has at least a " weak " 
stress, and that thus every line which is divisible into five 
feet has five stresses. But nothing save a desire to keep 
faith with a theory would lead us to use any stress what- 
ever in reading such feet as those italicized in the follow- 
ing passage: 

" To find | ourselves | dishon | oura | ble graves. 

* # * 

The fault, | dear Brut | us, is | not in | our stars, 

* * * 

* Brutus ' | will start | a spir | it as | soon as | ' Caesar.' " 

I. ii., 138, 140, 147. 

If the reader will note the degree of force with which he 
utters the "unaccented" third syllable in each line he 
will, I think, see that it is at least quite as great as that 
given the supposedly " accented " syllable in the italicized 
foot. Such instances are common. To force ourselves to 
stress such elusive syllables is to be what Shakspere could 
hardly have intended — wholly unnatural. It seems better, 



APPENDIX. 151 

therefore, to regard some feet as stressed and some as un- 
stressed ; the latter are called " pyrrhics." 

3. Variation in the number of syllables to a stress. 
This may vary from one to three, as in the line : 

" Friends, | Romans, | countrymen, | lend me | your ears." 

III. ii., 76. 

The varied number of syllables to a stress and the varied 
position of the stress cause : 

4. Variation in the kind of feet. In the line just 
quoted, " Romans " is a trochee, and " countrymen " a 
dactyl. The last foot is the only iambus in the line. The 
first foot in a line and the foot following the cesural pause 
are often trochees, as: 

" Looks in | the clouds, | scorning \ the base | degrees." 

II. i., 26. 

5. Variation in the position of the cesura, the pause 
within the line. In the following lines the cesural pause 
comes after the first (or seventh), the third, and the fourth 
syllables respectively. 

" Here, | under leave of Brutus and the rest, — 
For Brutus | is an honourable man; 
So are they all, | all honourable men — " III. ii., 84-6. 

6. Variation in the verse-endings. In the lines be- 
low it will be seen that there is an extra, unstressed sylla- 
ble at the end of each; this is called a "feminine (or 
double) ending." It will also be noticed that there is no 
pause at the end of the first line, the sense runs on to the 
next one; a line without a pause sufficient to call for at 
least a comma is therefore called a " run-on line." 

" Villains, you did not so when your vile daggers 
Hack'd one another in the sides of Caesar." V. i., 39-40. 



152 



JULIUS CAESAR. 



In his incomparable use of such variations, which en- 
rich rather than mar the music of the fundamental 
cadence, we see Shakspere's mastery of his art. With 
what increasing freedom he used certain of these varia- 
tions is shown by a comparison of our play with two others 
— Love's Labour's Lost, probably the earliest of his plays, 
and A Winter's Tale, perhaps the latest. The figures 
given, which are based on several authorities, show with 
approximate accuracy the percentages of the several va- 
riations in each play. 





Feminine 
endings. 


Run-on 

lines. 


UDrhymed 
lines. 


Love's Labour's Lost 


4 
16.2 
31.9 


5.5 
17.2 
47.3 


33 


Julius Caesar 


98.5 


A Winter's Tale 


100 







The relative number of the above and other less important 
variations in any play is thus a means of determining the 
probable date of its writing. 



THE DATE OF THE PLAY. 



Julius Caesar is not known to have been published be- 
fore it appeared in the First Folio, the earliest collected 
edition of the plays; this was issued in 1623, six years 
after the poet's death. There is, however, general agree- 
ment that the play was written in or about 1601. For 
the date the chief indications in the play itself are those 
already noted : the number of variations from the typical 
verse, the subject of the play, and its general tone; these 
all point, more or less clearly, to the early part of the 
Third Period. Other works also aid in fixing the date of 



APPENDIX. 153 

this. In 1601 appeared Weever's Mirror of Martyrs, in 
which are the following lines: 

" The many-headed multitude was drawn 

By Brutus's speech that Caesnr was ambitious; 
When eloquent Mark Antony had shown 

His virtues, who but Brutus then was vicious ? " 

It is probable — though, I think, not quite certain — that 
there is allusion here to the speeches in our play; and as 
Julius Caesar is not given in Francis Meres's list of 
Shakspere's plays, which was published in 1598, it was 
apparently written between that date and the date of pub- 
lication of Weever's book. It was probably the first of the 
great tragedies, having been followed by its companion 
play, Hamlet, in which there seems to be an allusion to 
our play when Polonius says (III. ii) : 

" I did enact Julius Caesar : I was killed in the Capitol ; Brutus 
killed me." 



SHAKSPERE AND PLUTARCH. 

The dramatic possibilities of the career of Julius Cae- 
sar had not escaped the eyes of playwrights when Shak- 
spere wrote his tragedy, but our author seems not to have 
been indebted to any earlier play. His one source, ap- 
parently, was Plutarch's Lives of Caesar, Brutus, and 
Antony. The version used by him was that of Sir Thomas 
North, translated not from the Greek but from a French 
version. To " North's Plutarch " Shakspere's indebted- 
ness is great. To the Greek biographer he owes not only 
the plot of our play but numerous details not essential to 
the plot. To the English translator he owes frequent 
turns of expression, seme of which seem distinctly Shak- 



154 JULIUS CAESAR. 

sperean in flavor. The nature and extent of the indebted- 
ness to Plutarch is suggested by the following enumera- 
tion, the wording of which is largely taken from Mr. A. W. 
Verity's admirable edition of the play. For students who 
may wish to make comparison of the text of the play with 
that of North's version of the biographies, references are 
made, by page numbers, to Skeat's Shakespeare's Plutarch, 

ACT I 

Scene 1. — Offense at Caesar's " triumph over Pompey's blood " 
(91). The tribunes "disrobe the images" of Caesar (96). 

This admirable prelude is almost wholly Shakespeare's. 

Scene 2. — Antony " doth run his course " at the Lupercalia 
(95-6; 163). The warning of the Soothsayer (98). The inter- 
view between Cassius and Brutus (112-3). Caesar's description 
of " that spare Cassius " ( 97 ; 111). Caesar's refusal of the crown 
( 96 ) ; his " falling " sickness ; his " plucking ope his doublet " 
( 95 ) . The " writings " to incite Brutus ( 97 ; 112). 

The long discussion between Brutus and Cassius, which 
reveals the men and the times as no action could do, has 
but the slight suggestion of Plutarch : 

Now when Cassius felt his friends, and did stir them up 
against Caesar, they all agreed, and promised to take part with 
him, so Brutus were the chief of their conspiracy. . . . Therefore 
Cassius, considering this matter with himself, did first of all 
speak to Brutus, since they grew strange together for the suit 
they had for the prsetorship. 

Scene 3.— The omens (97). 

Lines 3-28 of this scene are a good instance of the " rich 
mantle of poetry" which Shakspere has thrown over all 
he borrowed. Compare the description put on the lips of 
Cassius with the prosaic account of Plutarch : 



APPENDIX. 155 

For, touching the fires in the element, and spirits running 
up and down in the night, and also the solitary birds to be seen 
at noondays sitting in the great market-place, are not all these 
signs perhaps worth the noting, in such a wonderful chance as 
happened? But Strabo the philosopher writeth that divers men 
were seen going up and down in fire: and furthermore, that there 
was a slave of the soldiers that did cast a marvellous burning 
flame out of his hand, insomuch as they that saw it thought he 
had been burnt; but when the fire was out, it was found he had 
no hurt. 

Cassius's interview with Casca (11. 41-132) has no sugges- 
tion in Plutarch. 

ACT II 

Scene 1. — No oath taken by the conspirators ; the decision not 
to include Cicero (114). Brutus's refusal to have Antony killed 
(119; 164). Portia's wound and her interview with Brutus 
(115). Brutus and Ligarius (113). 

The self-revelations of Brutus by his treatment of Lucius 
and in his soliloquy are wholly Shakspere's. So also is the 
night meeting of the conspirators. 

Scene 2. — Calpurnia's dream (98; 117). The victim without 
a heart (98). Caesar and Decius (99). 

Scene 3. — Artemidorus and his petition (90). 

Scene 4. — Portia sends messages to Brutus (117). 



ACT III 

Scene 1. — The warnings of the Soothsayer (98) and of Arte- 
midorus (99). The incident of Popilius Lena (117-8). The 
drawing Antony aside; the suit for Publius Cimber (118). The 
killing of Caesar (100-1; 118-9). Brutus, against the wish of 
Cassius, allows Antony""*** to speak in the order of Caesar's 
funeral" (121). 

The highly dramatic incident of the bathing in Caesar's 
blood is Shakspere's ; so also is the scene, perhaps the most 



156 JULIUS CAESAR. 

impressive in the play, when Antony is alone with the 
" bleeding piece of earth." The interview of Antony and 
the conspirators has but the slightest suggestion from 
Plutarch. 

Scene 2. — Brutus speaks to the people (120). Antony de- 
livers a funeral oration over the body of Caesar and exhibits the 
blood-stained robe (121; 165). Caesar's will is read (121). The 
" mutiny and rage " of the people ; the flight of Brutus and Cas- 
sius (122; 165). Arrival of Octavius (123; 166). 

Shakspere's genius is seen at its best in this scene. The 
soliloquy of Antony over Caesar's body, given in the pre- 
ceding scene, and his superb oration over it, given in this, 
are the finest passages of the play. For the soliloquy 
there is, as before stated, no suggestion in Plutarch; for 
the oration there is only the statement, in the Life of 
Antony : 

When Caesar's body was brought to the place where it should 
be buried, he made a funeral oration in commendation of Caesar, 
according to the ancient custom of praising noble men at their 
funerals. When he saw that the people were very glad and de- 
sirous also to hear Caesar spoken of, and his praises uttered, he 
mingled Ms oration with lamentable words; and by amplifying 
of matters did greatly move their hearts and affections unto pity 
and compassion. In fine, to conclude his oration, he unfolded be- 
fore the whole assembly the bloody garments of the dead, thrust 
through in many places with their swords, and called the male- 
factors cruel and cursed murderers. 

In the Life of Caesar it is stated that the people were in- 
flamed when " they saw his body (which was brought into 
the market place) all bemangled with gashes of swords"; 
but this is not connected with Antony's speech. Nor is 
the reading of the will, which occurred at another time. 
For the oration of Brutus there is the mere statement that 
"a great number of men being assembled together one 



APPENDIX. 157 

after another, Brutus made an oration unto them, to win 
the favour of the people, and to justify that they had 
done." Historically, the killing of Caesar occurred on 
March 15, the public reading of the will on March 18, 
the funeral on March 19 or 20, and the return of Octavius 
in May. Shakspere secures the dramatic effect of unity 
of time by having all these events occur in one day. 

Scene 3. — Cinna's dream and the assault of the mob ( 102-3 ; 
122). 

Shakspere throws into the account characteristic touches 
of grim humor. 

ACT IV 

Scene 1. — The meeting of the triumvirs; their proscriptions 
(128; 169). 

Scene 2. — The quarrel between Brutus and Cassius; the in- 
trusion of the poet (134-5). The manner of Portia's death 
(151). Dispute as to campaign (138-9). The appearing of 
Caesar's ghost (103-4; 136). 

In the dispute over Lucius Pella our author follows the 
historian very closely. But for the general quarrel which 
ensues there is the bare statement that " they began to 
pour out their complaints one to the other, and grew hot 
and loud, earnestly accusing one another, and at length 
fell both a-weeping." Lines 28-124, introduced to ex- 
hibit qualities in the two leaders which are not shown else- 
where, are wholly Shakspere's. So also is the incident of 
Brutus' s treatment of Lucius, an exquisite interlude be- 
tween the tense scene of the quarrel and that of the appari- 
tion. In the latter scene the poet follows, at times literally, 
the account in North : 

So, being ready to go into Europe, one night very late (when 
all the camp took quiet rest) as he was in his tent with a little 
light, thinking of weighty matters, he thought he heard one come 



158 JULIUS CAESAR. 

in to him, and casting his eye towards the door of his tent, that 
he saw a wonderful strange and monstrous shape of a body com- 
ing towards him, and said never a word. So Brutus boldly asked 
what he was, a god or a man, and what cause brought him 
thither? The spirit answered him, " I am thy evil spirit, Brutus: 
and thou shalt see me by the city of Philippes." Brutus being no 
otherwise afraid, replied again unto it: "Well, then I shall see 
thee again." The spirit presently vanished away: and Brutus 
called his men unto him, who told him that they heard no noise, 
nor saw anything at all. 

Even the incident of the lamp's burning low is taken from 
Plutarch; it is given in the Life of Caesar. 



ACT V 

Scene 1. — The conversation of Cassius and Messala (139). 
The omens of the " two mighty eagles " (137). The discussion of 
Brutus and Cassius on suicide (139-140). 

Scene 2. — Brutus pushes Octavius hard ; he sends horsemen 
to Cassius (142). 

Scene 3. — Cassius, failing to stay the rout of his troops, re- 
treats to the hill (142-3). Brutus's horsemen meet Titinius; Cas- 
sius, thinking that Titinius is captured, kills himself; Titinius 
also kills himself (143). Brutus laments over Cassius, "the last 
of all the Romans " ( 144) . 

Scene If. — The manner of young Cato's death; the device of 
Lucilius to save Brutus (148-9). 

Scene 5. — The manner of Brutus's death; Strato enters the 
service of Octavius; Octavius gives Brutus's body honorable 
burial (151). Antony's tribute to Brutus (130). 

According to Plutarch it was at another time that 
Antony declared " that of all them that had slain Caesar, 
there was none but Brutus only that was moved to do it, 
as thinking the act commendable of itself : but that all the 
other conspirators did conspire his death for some private 
malice or envy, that they otherwise did bear unto him." 

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